Precipitation Copolymerization of Vinyl-imidazole and Vinyl-pyrrolidone, 2 - Kinetic Model~a

摘要

A mathematical model simulating the precipitation polymerization of vinyl-imidazole (VI) and vinyl-pyrrolidone (VP) in organic solvent is developed. Free radical polymerization can occur in two phases: the continuous solvent rich one and the dispersed polymer-rich one. The relevance of each reaction locus has been identified by comparing the simulation results of a reduced version of the comprehensive model of precipitation polymerization developed in this work to the experimental data of cumulative copolymer composition. It is found that the interphase transport of active chains between the two phases is negligible. Consequently, due to the equilibrium partitioning of monomers and initiator largely in favor of the dispersed phase, the polymer chains are mainly produced in the polymer-rich phase. Finally, the comprehensivemodel including the population balance equations for active and dead polymer chains is discussed, which allows describing the complete molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the final product. This way, a further confirmation of the dominance of the precipitated phase as main reaction locus is provided.