Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.36, No.4, 1181-1190, 1997
Production of Homogeneously Branched Polymers by Using a Chain-Transfer Monomer
A method to synthesize homogeneously branched polymers is considered theoretically, by using free-radical copolymerization in which one type of monomer possesses a high chain-transfer constant with a polymerizable double bond in it, which is called a chain-transfer monomer. It was found that the homogeneously branched polymer molecules could be synthesized, at least approximately, by conducting the copolymerization in a continuous-stirred-tank reactor under steady state, irrespective of the magnitude of the reactivity ratios as well as the terminal double-bond reactivity, provided that the chain-transfer constant is large enough. Because the analytical expressions for the full molecular weight distribution (MWD), the fractional MWDs containing 0, 1, 2, etc., branch points, and the radii of gyration can be obtained, such polymer molecules could be regarded as polymers with a well-defined branched structure.
Keywords:MOLECULAR-WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION;VINYL-ACETATE POLYMERIZATION;FREE-RADICAL POLYMERIZATION;SIMULATION-MODEL;COPOLYMERIZATION