Initiators thermal initiation

Free-radical polymerizations can be initiated thermally by thermal initiators, by redox initiators, by photo initiators, or electrolytically. The polymerization process starts with the generation of radicals, high-energy species, which are capable of interacting with the double bond of vinyl, acrylic or olehn monomers. The source of these species is a molecule called the initiator. Thermal initiators dissociate homolytically into two radicals at elevated temperature, usually 60-80°C, whereas redox initiators form radicals by a redox mechanism, normally at lower temperatures than thermal initiators. Photoinitiators form radicals by action of UV light. 

Thermal Initiation Thermal initiators are very common and typically decay following a first-order rate law, as shown in Equation 1.9. Most common thermal initiators are peroxides or diazo compounds, such as azobisisob-utyronitrile (AIBN) [5]. Initiators are chosen so that at polymerization tanperature, decomposition is slow with typical values for ranging from 10 to 10" s" . Commonly, the rate at which a thermal initiator decomposes is reported as the tanperature at which the half-life (Eq. 1.15) is equal to 10 h ... 

Bulk polymerization of styrene with the organomontmorillonites occurred with a freshly distilled monomer (all of the inhibitor is removed). Azobisiosobutylnitrile (AIBN) was employed as the initiator. Thermal initiation occurred at 60°C for 72 h. 

Like steam injection, in-situ combustion is a thermal process designed to reduce oil viscosity and hence improve flow performance. Combustion of the lighter fractions of the oil in the reservoir is sustained by continuous air injection. Though there have been some economic successes claimed using this method, it has not been widely employed. Under the right conditions, combustion can be initiated spontaneously by injecting air into an oil reservoir. However a number of projects have also experienced explosions in surface compressors and injection wells. 

The internal kiln surface can contain up to six empty defect zones or zones with thermal physical characteristics different from those of material layers. The initial data are taken from a text file, prepared by any editor in the format MS-DOS. The obtained values of temperatures are written into an output file in the format MS-DOS for subsequent processing with visualization programs. 

Fig. XVIII-22. Schematic illustration of the steps that may be involved in a surface-mediated reaction initial adsorption, subsequent thermalization, diffusion and surface reaction, and desorption. (From Ref. 199 copyright 1984 by the AAAS.)...

One may now consider how changes can be made in a system across an adiabatic wall. The first law of thermodynamics can now be stated as another generalization of experimental observation, but in an unfamiliar form the M/ork required to transform an adiabatic (thermally insulated) system, from a completely specified initial state to a completely specifiedfinal state is independent of the source of the work (mechanical, electrical, etc.) and independent of the nature of the adiabatic path. This is exactly what Joule observed the same amount of work, mechanical or electrical, was always required to bring an adiabatically enclosed volume of water from one temperature 0 to another 02. 

A final study that must be mentioned is a study by Haitmann et al. [249] on the ultrafast spechoscopy of the Na3p2 cluster. They derived an expression for the calculation of a pump-probe signal using a Wigner-type density mahix approach, which requires a time-dependent ensemble to be calculated after the initial excitation. This ensemble was obtained using fewest switches surface hopping, with trajectories inibally sampled from the thermalized vibronic Wigner function vertically excited onto the upper surface. 

The initial conditions of system (20) coincide with those for the original equations X/,(0) = X" and V/i(0) = V . Appropriate treatments, as discussed in [72], are essential for the random force at large timesteps to maintain thermal equilibrium since the discretization S(t — t ) => 6nml t is poor for large At. This problem is alleviated by the numerical approach below because the relevant discretization of the Dirac function is the inner timestep At rather than a large At. 

Many materials need to be dried prior to their analysis to remove residual moisture. Depending on the material, heating to a temperature of 110-140 °C is usually sufficient. Other materials need to be heated to much higher temperatures to initiate thermal decomposition. Both processes can be accomplished using a laboratory oven capable of providing the required temperature. 

Using typical activation energies out of Tables 6.2-6.4, estimate the percent change in the rate of polymerization with a 1°C change in temperature at 50°C for thermally initiated and photinitiated polymerization. 

Finally we recognize that a 1°C temperature variation can be approximated as dT and that (dRp/Rp) X 100 gives the approximate percent change in the rate of polymerization. Taking average values of E from the appropriate tables, we obtain E j = 145, E = 16.8, and Ep = 24.9 kJ mol . For thermally initiated polymerization... 

Photoinitiation is not as important as thermal initiation in the overall picture of free-radical chain-growth polymerization. The foregoing discussion reveals, however, that the contrast between the two modes of initiation does provide insight into and confirmation of various aspects of addition polymerization. The most important application of photoinitiated polymerization is in providing a third experimental relationship among the kinetic parameters of the chain mechanism. We shall consider this in the next section. 

As shown in Figure 1, the equiHbrium concentration is affected slightly by temperature (11). The actual concentration is affected by the reaction rate and the initial concentration of each isomer. Deviations beyond equiHbrium can be achieved when zeoHtes are used, owing to shape selectivity (see Molecularsieves). The thermal isomerization of the three xylenes has been studied at 1000°C (12). Side reactions predominated, and only a small percentage of xylenes was interconverted. 

Water-soluble peroxide salts, such as ammonium or sodium persulfate, are the usual initiators. The initiating species is the sulfate radical anion generated from either the thermal or redox cleavage of the persulfate anion. The thermal dissociation of the persulfate anion, which is a first-order process at constant temperature (106), can be greatly accelerated by the addition of certain reducing agents or small amounts of polyvalent metal salts, or both (87). By using redox initiator systems, rapid polymerizations are possible at much lower temperatures (25—60°C) than are practical with a thermally initiated system (75—90°C). 

Staged reactions, where only part of the initial reactants are added, either to consecutive reactors or with a time lag to the same reactor, maybe used to reduce dipentaerythritol content. This technique increases the effective formaldehyde-to-acetaldehyde mole ratio, maintaining the original stoichiometric one. It also permits easier thermal control of the reaction (66,67). Both batch and continuous reaction systems are used. The former have greater flexibiHty whereas the product of the latter has improved consistency (55,68). 

Thermally activated initiators (qv) such as azobisisobutyroaittile (AIBN), ammonium persulfate, or benzoyl peroxide can be used in solution polymeriza tion, but these initiators (qv) are slow acting at temperatures required for textile-grade polymer processes. Half-hves for this type of initiator are in the range of 10—20 h at 50—60°C (13). Therefore, these initiators are used mainly in batch or semibatch processes where the reaction is carried out over an extended period of time. 

When initiator is first added the reaction medium remains clear while particles 10 to 20 nm in diameter are formed. As the reaction proceeds the particle size increases, giving the reaction medium a white milky appearance. When a thermal initiator, such as AIBN or benzoyl peroxide, is used the reaction is autocatalytic. This contrasts sharply with normal homogeneous polymerizations in which the rate of polymerization decreases monotonicaHy with time. Studies show that three propagation reactions occur simultaneously to account for the anomalous auto acceleration (17). These are chain growth in the continuous monomer phase chain growth of radicals that have precipitated from solution onto the particle surface and chain growth of radicals within the polymer particles (13,18). 

Suitable catalysts are /-butylphenylmethyl peracetate and phenylacetjdperoxide or redox catalyst systems consisting of an organic hydroperoxide and an oxidizable sulfoxy compound. One such redox initiator is cumene—hydroperoxide, sulfur dioxide, and a nucleophilic compound, such as water. Sulfoxy compounds are preferred because they incorporate dyeable end groups in the polymer by a chain-transfer mechanism. Common thermally activated initiators, such as BPO and AIBN, are too slow for use in this process. 

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