A KINETIC STUDY ON THE FREE RADICAL POLYMERIZATION OF METHYL METHACRYLATEBY 1,1,4,4-TETRAMETHYL-1,4DIBENZYLETHYLENEDIAMMONIUM CHLORIDE (TMDBEDAC) AS DI-SITE PHASE TRANSFER CATALYST
Keywords:
Free radical polymerization, PTC, Methyl methacrylate, Peroxomonosulfate, Initiator.Abstract
Free radical polymerization of alkyl monomers using water soluble initiator was impractical due to phase separation, it can be overcome by
introduction of phase transfer catalyst (PTC). Polymerization using this technique results in polymers of high molecular weight and good
mechanical properties. The catalytic activity seems to increase by the aromatic substitution in the alkyl chain of PTC. In the present study kinetics of
polymerization of methyl methacrylate in ethyl acetate/water biphasic media using potassium peroxomonosulfate (PMS) as water soluble initiator
and aromatic substituted PTC was investigated. The order of the reaction was found to be unity with respect to monomer concentration and 0.5-1.0
for PMS and catalyst concentration. The poly methyl methacrylate formed shows high molecular weight measured from the viscosity. The product
formed was endorsed by IR, thermal analysis and the crystallinity was studied from X-ray diffraction.
