Free radical polymerization molecular weight distribution

The molecular weight distribution for a polymer like that described above is remarkably narrow compared to free-radical polymerization or even to ionic polymerization in which transfer or termination occurs. The sharpness arises from the nearly simultaneous initiation of all chains and the fact that all active centers grow as long as monomer is present. The following steps outline a quantitative treatment of this effect ... 

That the Poisson distribution results in a narrower distribution of molecular weights than is obtained with termination is shown by Fig. 6.11. Here N /N is plotted as a function of n for F= 50, for living polymers as given by Eq. (6.109). and for conventional free-radical polymerization as given by Eq. (6.77). This same point is made by considering the ratio M /M for the case of living polymers. This ratio may be shown to equal... 

Various techniques have been studied to increase sohds content. Hydroxy-functional chain-transfer agents, such as 2-mercaptoethanol [60-24-2], C2HgOS, reduce the probabihty of nonfunctional or monofunctional molecules, permitting lower molecular-weight and functional monomer ratios (44). Making low viscosity acryhc resins by free-radical initiated polymerization requires the narrowest possible molecular-weight distribution. This requires carehil control of temperature, initiator concentration, and monomer concentrations during polymerization. 

A factor in addition to the RTD and temperature distribution that affects the molecular weight distribution (MWD) is the nature of the chemical reaciion. If the period during which the molecule is growing is short compared with the residence time in the reactor, the MWD in a batch reactor is broader than in a CSTR. This situation holds for many free radical and ionic polymerization processes where the reaction intermediates are very short hved. In cases where the growth period is the same as the residence time in the reactor, the MWD is narrower in batch than in CSTR. Polymerizations that have no termination step—for instance, polycondensations—are of this type. This topic is treated by Denbigh (J. Applied Chem., 1, 227 [1951]). 

As discussed in Section 7.3, conventional free radical polymerization is a widely used technique that is relatively easy to employ. However, it does have its limitations. It is often difficult to obtain predetermined polymer architectures with precise and narrow molecular weight distributions. Transition metal-mediated living radical polymerization is a recently developed method that has been developed to overcome these limitations [53, 54]. It permits the synthesis of polymers with varied architectures (for example, blocks, stars, and combs) and with predetermined end groups (e.g., rotaxanes, biomolecules, and dyes). 

The block copolymer produced by Bamford s metal carbonyl/halide-terminated polymers photoinitiating systems are, therefore, more versatile than those based on anionic polymerization, since a wide range of monomers may be incorporated into the block. Although the mean block length is controllable through the parameters that normally determine the mean kinetic chain length in a free radical polymerization, the molecular weight distributions are, of course, much broader than with ionic polymerization and the polymers are, therefore, less well defined,... 

Currently, more SBR is produced by copolymerizing the two monomers with anionic or coordination catalysts. The formed copolymer has better mechanical properties and a narrower molecular weight distribution. A random copolymer with ordered sequence can also be made in solution using butyllithium, provided that the two monomers are charged slowly. Block copolymers of butadiene and styrene may be produced in solution using coordination or anionic catalysts. Butadiene polymerizes first until it is consumed, then styrene starts to polymerize. SBR produced by coordinaton catalysts has better tensile strength than that produced by free radical initiators. 

First, in composites with high fiber concentrations, there is little matrix in the system that is not near a fiber surface. Inasmuch as polymerization processes are influenced by the diffusion of free radicals from initiators and from reactive sites, and because free radicals can be deactivated when they are intercepted at solid boundaries, the high interfacial area of a prepolymerized composite represents a radically different environment from a conventional bulk polymerization reactor, where solid boundaries are few and very distant from the regions in which most of the polymerization takes place. The polymer molecular weight distribution and cross-link density produced under such diffusion-controlled conditions will differ appreciably from those in bulk polymerizations. 

Continuous-flow stirred tank reactors are widely used for free-radical polymerizations. They have two main advantages the solvent or monomer can be boiled to remove the heat of polymerization, and fairly narrow molecular weight and copolymer composition distributions can be achieved. Stirred tanks or... 

Advanced computational models are also developed to understand the formation of polymer microstructure and polymer morphology. Nonuniform compositional distribution in olefin copolymers can affect the chain solubility of highly crystalline polymers. When such compositional nonuniformity is present, hydrodynamic volume distribution measured by size exclusion chromatography does not match the exact copolymer molecular weight distribution. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the hydrodynamic volume distribution from a copolymer kinetic model and to relate it to the copolymer molecular weight distribution. The finite molecular weight moment techniques that were developed for free radical homo- and co-polymerization processes can be used for such calculations [1,14,15]. 

A radical initiator based on the oxidation adduct of an alkyl-9-BBN (47) has been utilized to produce poly(methylmethacrylate) (48) (Fig. 31) from methylmethacrylate monomer by a living anionic polymerization route that does not require the mediation of a metal catalyst. The relatively broad molecular weight distribution (PDI = (MJM ) 2.5) compared with those in living anionic polymerization cases was attributed to the slow initiation of the polymerization.69 A similar radical polymerization route aided by 47 was utilized in the synthesis of functionalized syndiotactic polystyrene (PS) polymers by the copolymerization of styrene.70 The borane groups in the functionalized syndiotactic polystyrenes were transformed into free-radical initiators for the in situ free-radical graft polymerization to prepare s-PS-g-PMMA graft copolymers. 

In 1993, Georges and coworkers [23,202,203] first succeeded in the synthesis of poly(St) with a narrow molecular weight distribution through the free-radical polymerization process of St. The polymerization was carried out in the presence of BPO and 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-l-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) ... 

Iwasaki T, Yoshida J (2005) Free radical polymerization in microreactors. Significant improvement in molecular weight distribution control. Macromolecules 38 1159-1163... 

In polyolefins, the chain is propagated by an intermediate free-radical species or by an alkyl species adsorbed onto a solid. Both the free radical and the alkyl have the possibility of termination, and this creates the possibility of growth mistakes by chain transfer and chain-termination steps that create dead polymer before all reactants are consumed. The presence of termination steps produces a broader molecular-weight distribution than does ideal addition polymerization. 

Resists based on chloromethyl substitution have been extensively studied in the past few years (7-7). Halogen and halomethyl groups have been introduced by a variety of methods. Choong and Kahn (7) synthesized polychloromethylstyrene (PCMS) by free radical polymerization of chloromethylstyrene and reported a sensitivity (D 5) of 0.4 / 2 at 20 kV with a contrast of 1.5 for materials with molecular weight of about 400,000 (7). The molecular weight distribution of these polymers, all of which contained one chloromethyl group per repeat unit, was about 2. Fractionation of the polymer resulted in improved contrast as a result of narrowing the distribution. 

Ethylene Polymers. Depending on the polymerization conditions, three major types of polyethylene are manufactured low-density polyethylene (LDPE) by free-radical polymerization, linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) by copolymerization of ethylene with terminal olefins, and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) by coordination polymerization. The processes yield polymers with different characteristics (molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, melt index, strength, crystallinity, density, processability). 

Free-radical initiation of emulsion copolymers produces a random polymerization m which the trans/ds ratio cannot be controlled. The nature of ESBR free-radical polymerization results in the polymer being heterogeneous, with a broad molecular weight distribution and random copolymer composition. The microstructurc is not amenable to manipulation, although the temperature of the polymerization affects the ratio of trans to cis somewhat... 

Controlled free-radical polymerization methods, like atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), can yield polymer chains that have a very narrow molecular-weight distribution and allow the synthesis of block copolymers. In a collaboration between Matyjaszewski and DeSimone (Xia et al., 1999), ATRP was performed in C02 for the first time. PFOMA-/)-PMMA, PFOMA-fr-PDMAEMA [DMAEMA = 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate], and PMMA-/)-PFOA-/)-PM M A copolymers were synthesized in C02 using Cu(0), CuCl, a functionalized bipyridine ligand, and an alkyl halide initiator. The ATRP method was also conducted as a dispersion polymerization of MMA in C02 with PFOA as the stabilizer, generating a kine-... 

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