AIChE Journal, Vol.57, No.1, 227-238, 2011
A Comprehensive Kinetic Model for High-Temperature Free Radical Production of Styrene/Methacrylate/Acrylate Resins
n-Butyl methacrylate/styrene/n-butyl acrylate (BMA/ST/BA) high-temperature starved-feed solution semibatch copolymerization and terpolymerization experiments with varying monomer feed composition, final polymer content, monomer feed time, and reaction temperature were carried out. A comprehensive mechanistic terpolymerization model implemented in PREDICI includes methacrylate depropagation, acrylate backbiting, chain scission, and macromonomer propagation, as well as penultimate chain-growth and termination kinetics. The generality of the model was verified by comparison with terpolymerization data sets from two laboratories that demonstrate the impact of high-temperature secondary reactions on polymerization rate and polymer molecular weight. (C) 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 57: 227-238, 2011
Keywords:terpolymerization;kinetics (polym.);methacrylate;acrylate;styrene;mechanistic model;depropagation;intramolecular transfer to polymer;chain scission;macromonomer reactions;midchain radical