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A Modeling Study on the RAFT Polymerization of Vinyl Monomers in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide
Author(s) -
LópezDomínguez Porfirio,
JaramilloSoto Gabriel,
VivaldoLima Eduardo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
macromolecular reaction engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1862-8338
pISSN - 1862-832X
DOI - 10.1002/mren.201800011
Subject(s) - chain transfer , supercritical carbon dioxide , raft , molar mass , polymerization , supercritical fluid , radical polymerization , polymer chemistry , monomer , polymer , chemistry , dispersion polymerization , reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer polymerization , chemical engineering , materials science , organic chemistry , engineering
Abstract The kinetic modeling of reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion homopolymerization of vinyl monomers in supercritical carbon dioxide is addressed. The model accounts for two reaction loci, a polymer‐rich phase (dispersed) and a solvent‐rich phase (continuous). In one of the models, the partition of low molar mass components is estimated by using simple equations. The second model takes into account mass transfer of the components and is built using the phase‐exchange and k (s)‐termination steps of the Predici software. Model predictions are compared against experimental data of polymerization of styrene using 2,2′‐Azobis(2‐methylpropionitrile) (AIBN)/S‐thiobenzoyl thioglycolic acid/supercritical carbon dioxide. The model captures well the effect of the amount of RAFT agent on polymerization rate and molar mass development. Both models allow calculation of the concentrations of all the species present in the system for each phase. The performance of the system is compared against the conventional case (in the absence of RAFT agent).