1 Polymer chemistry Polymer chemistry

Elementary Reactions of Radical Polymerization Radical polymerization is chain polymerization Composed by at lest three elementary reactions –Chain initiation –Chain propagation –Chain termination –Perhaps accompanied by chain transfer reaction and so on

3 Primary Radical Monomer Radical （ 1 ） Chain Initiation Reaction heat absorption heat liberation Initiator Monomer

4 Primary Radical The decomposition of initiators is a heat absorp- tion reaction. With a relatively high activation emergy, about 100 ～ 170 KJ/mol Primary Radical

5 Decomposition rate constant is usually 10 － 4 ～ 10 － 6 /s The reaction rate is relatively slow. Initiator decomposition reaction----- controls the overall rate of the chain initiation.

6 Monomer Radical Monomer The primary radicals add to monomers to produce monomer radicals. The process of opening a π-bond, and producing a σ-bond is a exothermal reaction. Monomer Radical

7 With a low activation energy, about 20 ～ 34 kJ/mol And a great reaction rate constant. This is a very fast reaction.

8 (2) Chain Propagation Reaction

9 Head-to-Tail structure Head-to-Head structure Tail-to-Tail structure

10 （ 3 ） Chain Termination Reaction Radical Exhaustion Coupling Termination Disproportionation Termination

11 Monoradical termination Exhausts one radical initiator Biradical termination------coupling termination; disproportionation termination

12 Biradical termination coupling termination; disproportionation termination Coupling Termination ---- –The degree of polymerization is the sum of the monomeric units of the two radical chains. –The two ends of the molecule are the residues of the initiators.

13 Termination of disproportionation ---- –The Degree of Polymerization is the number of the monomeric units of the radical chain. –Each molecule contains a initiator residues end. –However, the terminated chemical structures of the two molecules are different, one saturated, and the other unsaturated.

14 The modes of termination reactions are determined by the monomer structure and the polymerization temperature.

15 The modes of termination monomer structure polymerization temperature With bulk substituents-----the possibility of disproportionation termination increases. At low polymerization temperature---- tending to coupling termination.

16 The relative scale of coupling to disproportionation termination is ：

17 Table 3-3 Modes of some Monomer Radical Termination Polymerization coupling Disproportionation Monomers tempera termination termination Styrene 0 ～ 60 ℃ 100 ％ 0 ％ P-chloro styrene 60 、 P- anisole styrene Methyl methacrylate Acrylonitrile 40 ， Vinyl acetate 90 ～ 100

18 Table 3-4 Comparison between Chain Propagation and Chain Termination Reaction Propagation rate constant [L/(mol·s)] Monomer concentration [M]: 10~10 -1 [mol/L] Propagation rate [M][M·],10 -4 ～ 10 6 [mol/(L·s)] Rate constant of termination [L/(mol·s)] Radical concentration [M·]: ～ 10 － 10 [mol/L] Termination rate [M·] 2, ～ 10 － 10 [mol/(L·s)]

19 （ 4 ） Chain Transfer Reaction To monomer To solvent ( or to chain transfer agent ） To initiator To polymer

20 [1] to monomer [2] To solvent( or to chain transfer agent ）

21 [3] to initiator [4] to molecule

22 Characteristics of Radical Polymerization From microscopic view, radical reaction consists of four elementary reactions-- initiation, propagation, termination, and transfer. The rate of initiation is the lowest one, which controls the overall rate of polymerization. In conclusion, the characteristics of radical polymerization are slow initiation, fast propagation, fast termination, and easy transfer.

23 The degree of polymerization increases only in the propagation process. In the system there are only monomers and polymers, no intermediate compounds.

24 Prolonging the reaction time is mainly to increase the conversion rate, with little effects on the molecular-weight. However, gel effect will increase the molecular- weight. A small amount （ 0.01 % ～ 0.1 % ） of inhibitors is enough to terminate the radical polymerization.

25 Radical PolymerizationCondensation Polymerization Elementary reactions’ rate constants and activation energy are different Elementary reactions’ rate constants and activation energy are almost samely Degree of polymerization does not change with polymerization time Molecular weight increases gradually and a fairly long time is needed. The polymer molecular wei -ght is comparatively small No intermediate products whose degree of polymeri -zation are increasing Polymerization process involves all monomers Table 3-5 Comparison of the Characteristics of Radical and Condensation Polymerization

26 Radical PolymerizationCondensation Polymerization No remarkable change of molecular weight with prolonged reaction time and higher conver -sion. Molecular weight of product increases with polymerization time but conversion increases little exothermic reactionShould be heated to high tempareture Accompanied with robabilities of branch -ing and even cross linking No branching