Vinyl monomers polymerization kinetics radical anions

Cationic surfactants, in contrast to anionic surfactants, usually reduce both the number of particles involved in the polymerization and the rate of polymerization. The nature of the stabilizing emulsifier has a marked effect on the polymerization kinetics. For example, addition of a non-ionic stabilizer [e.g., poly(vinyl alcohol), a block copolymer of carbowax 6000 and vinyl acetate, or ethylene oxide-alkyl phenol condensates] to a seed polymer stabilized by an anionic surfactant decreased the rate of polymerization to 25% of the original rate. The effect was as if the nonionic stabilizer (or protective colloid) acted as a barrier around the seed particles to alter the over-all kinetics. It may be that the viscosity of the medium in the neighborhood of the nonionic surfactant coating of the polymer particle is sufficiently different from that of an anionic layer to interfere with the diffusion of monomer or free radicals. There may also be a change in the chain-transfer characteristics of the system [156]. 

New kinetic regularities at polymerization of vinyl monomers in homophase and heterophase conditions in the presence of additives of transition metal salts, azonitriles, peroxides, stable nitroxyl radicals and radical anions (and their complexes), aromatic amines and their derivatives, emulsifiers and solvents of various nature were revealed. The mechanisms of the studied processes have been estabhshed in the whole and as elementary stages, their basic kinetic characteristics have been determined. Equations to describe the behavior of the studied chemical systems in polymerization reactions proceeding in various physicochemical conditions have been derived. Scientific principles of regulating polymer synthesis processes have been elaborated, which allows optimization of some industrial technologies and solving most important problems of environment protection. 

Additional well-defined side-chain liquid crystalline polymers should be synthesized by controlled polymerizations of mesogen-ic acrylates (anionic or free radical polymerizations), styrenes (anionic, cationic or free radical), vinyl pyridines (anionic), various heterocyclic monomers (anionic, cationic and metalloporphyrin-initiated), cyclobutenes (ROMP), and 7-oxanorbornenes and 7-oxanorbornadienes (ROMP). Ideally, the kinetics of these living polymerizations will be determined by measuring the individual rate constants for termination and... 

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