Vinyl polymers early investigations

Pulse radiolysis is a powerful tool for the creation and kinetic investigation of highly reactive species. It was introduced to the field of radiation chemistry at the end of the 1950s and became popular in the early 1960s. Although the objects of this modern technique were, at first, limited to solvated electrons and related intermediates, it was soon applied to a variety of organic and inorganic substances. As early as 1964, ionic intermediates produced by electron pulses in vinyl monomers were reported for the first time. Since then, the pulse radiolysis method has achieved considerable success in the field of polymer science. 

Soluble polymers have also been investigated as synthetic aibstitutes of plasma. Besides poly(l-vinylpyrrolidone) tsdiich has been used very early for this purpose other nthetic polymers such as poly(vinyl alcdiol) and poly [N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide]... 

Organometallic and inorganic polymers have frequently been investigated as possible conducting polymers. An early trick was to look for extended conjugation and then introduce mixed valence states. This most often led to charge-hopping type semiconductors. Thus, both poly(ferrocenylacetylene) and poly(vinyl-... 

Many other vinyl aromatic monomers and polymers were synthesized and investigated during this postwar period of discovery following styrene s early commercial success. Polymers of vinyl toluene, based on a more plentiful supply of toluene, had properties similar to those of polystyrene and were proposed as an attractive alternative (5). During this time, there was also great Interest in o-methylstyrene (6), divlnylbenzene (7) and various halogenated styrene monomers (8). 

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