Institut free-radical polymerization

Bhat, S. A. (2007). On-line optimizing control of bulk free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in a batch reactor using virtual instrumentation, Ph.D. Thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 146 pages. 

Until 1953, almost all vinyl polymerization of commercial importance was of the free-radical type. Since that time, however, ionic polymerization, chiefly in the form of coordination polymerization, has revolutionized the field. Following discoveries by Karl Ziegler (of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research) and by Guilio Natta (of the Polytechnic Institute of Milan)—who jointly received the Nobel Prize in 1963 for this work—catalysts have been developed that permit control of the polymerization process to a degree never before possible. 

FIGURE 17.3 Rate of polymerization versus monomer conversion for free radical solution polymerization of methyl methacrylate. With permission from Reference 19, Kwalik KM. Bifurcation characteristics in closed-loop polymerization reactors [PhD thesis]. Atlanta School of Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology 1988. 

Graeme Moad was bom in Orange, NSW, Australia. He obtained his BSc (Hons, First Class) and PhD from the Adelaide University in the field of organic free radical chemistry. After undertaking postdoctoral research at Pennsylvania State University in the field of biological oi anic chemistry he joined CSIRO in 1979 where he is currently a chief research scientist and a research group leader. He is also a project leader within the Cooperative Research Centre for Polymere. Dr. Moad is author or co-author of over 150 publications, co-inventor of 33 patent families (9 relate to the RAFT process), and co-author of the book The Chemistry of Radical Polymerization. More than 11500 papers dte his work and his h-indexis 51. His research interests lie in the fields of polymer design and synthesis (radical polymerization, reactive extmsion, polymer nanocomposites) and polymerization kinetics and mechanism. Dr. Moad is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and has recently been elected as a titular member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. 

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