Vinyl fluoride, bulk polymerization suspension

Continuous polymerization of VF was based on the modified suspension process in another work. In the bulk polymerization, vinyl fluoride was polymerized by a peroxide initiation. In an example, a glass ampoule was filled with VF containing 6.5 x Ifr mol/L of di-tert-butyl peroxide. The ampoule was irradiated by UV light from a mercury lamp below 25°C. Highly porous polymers, insoluble in vinyl fluoride, at conversions over 90%, were obtained. 

Vinyl fluoride imdergoes free-radical polymerization.The first polymerization involved heating a saturated solution of VF in toluene at 67° C under 600 MPa for 16 hr. A wide variety of initiators and polymerization conditions have been explored. Examples of bulk and solution polymerizations exist however, aqueous suspension or emulsion method is generally preferred. Copolymers of VF and a wide variety of other monomers have been prepared. More recently, interpolymers of VF have been reported with tetrafluoroethylene and other highly fluorinated monomers, such as hexafluoropropylene, perfluorobuty-lethylene, and perfluoroethylvinylether. 

As mentioned before, the monomer has a low boiling point ( - 72.2°C) and a relatively low critical temperature (54.7°C). For comparison, vinyl chloride has a boiling point of - 13.8°C and a critical temperature of 147°C (cf. this series, Vol. 11, 2nd ed., p. 358). Therefore the polymerization of vinyl fluoride is usually carried out under high-pressure conditions which probably resemble the polymerization of ethylene more than that of the other vinyl halides. The monomer is soluble in a variety of solvents. At room temperature, the homopolymer is insoluble. Therefore the neat subdivision of polymerization techniques into bulk, solution, suspension, and emulsion procedures which we have used in many other sections in this series becomes blurred. Most procedures seem to lead to blocks of polymer or some sort of dispersions from which... 

Apart from the fluoro monomers vinyl fluoride (VF), vinylidene fluoride (VF2), and tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), only chlorofluoroethylene has found commercial use as homopolymer. It is applied as thermoplastic resin based on its vapor-barrier properties, superior thermal stability (Tdec > 350 °C), and resistance to strong oxidizing agents [601]. Chlorofluoroethylene is homo- and copolymerized by free-radical-initiated polymerization in bulk [602], suspension, or aqueous emulsion using organic and water-soluble initiators [603,604] or ionizing radiation [605], and in solution [606]. For bulk polymerization, trichloroacetyl peroxide [607] and other fluorochloro peroxides [608,609] have been used as initiators. Redox initiator systems are described for the aqueous suspension polymerization [603,604]. The emulsion polymerization needs fluorocarbon and chlorofluorocarbon emulsifiers [610]. 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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