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Effect of oxygen on vinyl acetate polymerization
Author(s) -
Levy L. B.,
Hinojosa L.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1992.070450905
Subject(s) - polymerization , oxygen , vinyl acetate , acetaldehyde , polymer chemistry , isothermal process , chemistry , thermal stability , hydroquinone , organic chemistry , polymer , ethanol , thermodynamics , copolymer , physics
Various conflicting reports in the literature regarding the effect of oxygen on the stability of vinyl acetate (VA) toward polymerization led us to reexamine this topic using both isothermal stability tests and quasi‐adiabatic calorimetry. Both commercial VA stabilized with 5–20 ppm by weight of hydroquinone (HQ) and purified, unstabilized VA exhibit lower stability to thermally initiated polymerization (at 50–120°C) in the presence of oxygen than in its absence. However, when stabilized with 3–5 ppm of HQ, both air‐saturated and oxygen‐free VA exhibit adequate thermal stability at normal transport and storage temperatures (25–50°C). Oxygen destabilization of VA is probably caused by the relatively low stability of VA polyperoxide rather than by the oxidation of acetaldehyde impurity to peroxyacetic acid. The length of VA polymerization induction periods is about −0.4 order in oxygen partial pressure.