Improved Livingness and Control over Branching in RAFT Polymerization of Acrylates: Could Microflow Synthesis Make the Difference?

The superior capabilities of structured microreactors over batch reactors are demonstrated for reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) solution polymerization of n‐butyl acrylate with the aid of simulations, explicitly accounting for the chain length distribution of all macrospecies...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Macromolecular rapid communications. Vol. 36; no. 24; pp. 2149 - 2155
Main Authors: Derboven, Pieter, Van Steenberge, Paul H. M., Vandenbergh, Joke, Reyniers, Marie-Francoise, Junkers, Thomas, D'hooge, Dagmar R., Marin, Guy B.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Germany Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2015
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:
Acrylates
Acrylic Resins - chemical synthesis
Acrylic Resins - chemistry
Acrylics
Addition polymerization
Batch reactors
branching
Chain transfer
Chemical industry
Chemical synthesis
Cleavage
Dilution
Microreactors
polymer kinetics
Polymerization
RAFT
Rafts
Reactors
Reagents
reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer
reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer, RAFT
Solution polymerization
reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer, RAFT
branching
acrylates
microreactors
polymer kinetics
ISSN:1022-1336, 1521-3927, 1521-3927
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The superior capabilities of structured microreactors over batch reactors are demonstrated for reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) solution polymerization of n‐butyl acrylate with the aid of simulations, explicitly accounting for the chain length distribution of all macrospecies types. Since perfect isothermicity can be established in a microreactor, less side products due to backbiting and β‐scission are formed compared to the batch operation in which ineffective heat removal leads to an undesirable temperature spike. For a given RAFT chain transfer agent (CTA), additional microstructural control results under microflow conditions by optimizing the reaction temperature, lowering the dilution degree, or decreasing the initial molar ratio of monomer to RAFT CTA. The superior capabilities of structured microreactors over batch reactors are demonstrated for reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer solution polymerization of n‐butyl acrylate due to isothermicity of the former. Importantly, detailed kinetic analysis also allows to determine unambiguously the different underlying causes for the effect of the microreactor conditions on the cumulative branching content and the degree of livingness.
Bibliography:istex:4D2B1F58E74467D52534363C3B0A7438E0A8DBD8
ark:/67375/WNG-D299L2F5-L
ArticleID:MARC201500357
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:1022-1336
1521-3927
1521-3927
DOI:10.1002/marc.201500357