Methacrylic acid polymerization thermodynamics

Figure 11.7 shows the temperature history at a fixed point in the reaction tube as a front passes. The temperature at this point is ambient when the front is far away and rises rapidly as the front approaches. Hence, a polymerization front has a very sharp temperature profile (Pojman et al., 1995b). Figure 11.7 shows five temperature profiles measured during frontal free-radical polymerization of methacrylic acid with various concentrations of BPO initiator. Temperature maxima increase with increasing initiator concentration. For an adiabatic system, the conversion is directly proportional to the difference between the initial temperature of the unreacted medium and the maximum temperature attained by the front. The conversion depends not only on the type of initiator and its concentration but also on the thermodynamic characteristics of the polymer (Pojman et al., 1996b). 

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