Homogeneous vs Heterogeneous LRP Processes

Whatever the living mechanism, an essential requirement for a successful LRP is the minimization of the fraction of dead chains. In a bulk or solution reaction, the final amount of dead chains is a function of the radical concentration only large polymerization rates correspond to high dead chain concentrations. 

According to the same bulk model as mentioned above, it can be shown that the time needed to obtain 90% conversion after proper tuning of the process parameters so as to obtain a defined fraction of dead chains, / , is given by [1 la] 

In addition to the kinetic considerations illustrated above, operating a living polymerization in emulsion is still the subject of research efforts by many groups [13]. The multi-phase environment complicates the global kinetics of the process and this is particularly evident in an ab initio emulsion polymeriza- 

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