| Abstract: | For anionic polymerization with slow initiation and rapid propagation step analytical expressions are presented to calculate average molecular weights and molecular weight distributions for a semi-batch process, in which a monomer solution contaminated by impurities is fed to an initiator solution in the reactor. The validity of the model was checked for the case of the polymerization of isoprene by n-butyllithium in n-heptane. The differences observed between theoretical and experimental values are explained by the changes in the rate constants of the initiation and the propagation step caused by the change in the polarity of the reaction solution by the continuously fed impurities. Furthermore it is shown that polymers with bimodal molecular weight distributions are formed if the semi-batch procedure is followed by a batch one to increase the monomer conversion. |
