Electroinitiation of Polymerization

These polymerizations, sometimes also called electrolytic polymerizations, are carried out in an electrical field. The field is applied to initiate chain growth. Passage of an electrical current 

CHAPTER 3 Early studies on initiation of cationic polymerizations of styrene, isobutyl vinyl ether, and 

A vinyl caibazole were carried out by dissolving AgC104 in pure monomers or in nitrobenzene. Electric current was then passed through them at room temperature. Rubbery polymers formed as well as some copolymers, suggesting a cationic path of the polymerization. A mechanism was suggested, based on anodic oxidation  

In the above initiation, the monomer itself is the initiator and the anode can be regarded as the co-initiator.  

If a supporting electrolyte is first oxidized to a radical, indirect cationic polymerization can result. The radical in a subsequent step oxidizes the monomer to a first initiating entity, the cation radical. Such an indirect initiation was also suggested for electropolymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether in the presence of BF4 supporting electrolyte  

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