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Measuring and modelling the peculiarities of aqueous‐phase radical polymerization
Author(s) -
Preusser Calista,
Hutchinson Robin A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.22592
Subject(s) - polymerization , radical polymerization , aqueous solution , chemistry , methacrylic acid , monomer , polymer chemistry , formamide , acrylic acid , kinetic chain length , bulk polymerization , polymer , radical , kinetics , precipitation polymerization , solution polymerization , aqueous two phase system , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
The application of specialized pulsed‐laser techniques has led to a vastly improved understanding of the kinetics of aqueous phase solution radical polymerization of water‐soluble monomers. Propagation rate coefficients vary significantly with monomer concentration, an effect unique to the aqueous environment. In addition, the formation and reaction of mid‐chain radicals affects polymerization rates, and thus polymer molar masses, in acrylamide and acrylic acid systems. This perspective provides an overview of these mechanistic peculiarities, which have been captured in kinetic models developed to represent the homopolymerizations of N ‐vinyl pyrrolidone, N ‐vinyl formamide, methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, and acrylamide over a wide range of conditions. The batch studies demonstrate the importance of these effects in aqueous polymerization and the validity of the rate coefficients taken from the independent kinetic studies.