Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Vol.25, No.15, 1376-1381, 2004
RAFT-polymerization of styrene up to high pressure: Rate enhancement and improved control
Application of high pressure, up to 2 500 bar, in cumyl dithiobenzoate-mediated styrene reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations was found to be extremely advantageous with respect to both rate and control of polymerization. The overall rate of polymerization could be increased by a factor of approximately 3 with, e.g., at 23% conversion, concomitantly reducing the polydispersity indices from 1.35 to 1.10. No significant effect of increased pressure on the rate retardation effect was found.
Keywords:high pressure;kinetics (polym.);living/controlled free-radical polymerization;molecular weight distribution/molar mass distribution;reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)