Solution and quasi‐bulk copolymerizations of styrene and methyl methacrylate in the presence of polybutadiene: Mathematical model |
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| Authors: | Carolina Gutierrez Diana A Estenoz Luis M Gugliotta Jorge R Vega Gregorio R Meira |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (INTEC), Universidad Nacional del Litoral–CONICET, Güemes 3450, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina;2. Facultad Regional Santa Fe (Universidad Tecnológica Nacional), Lavaisse 610, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | A mathematical model was developed for simulating the batch copolymerization of styrene (St) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of polybutadiene (PB). It was adjusted to the measurements of three reactions carried out at 65°C, with initial comonomers ratio at the azeotropic condition, THF as solvent, and benzoyl peroxide as initiator. The measurements included: (a) conversions and grafting efficiencies by gravimetry; (b) molecular weight distributions (MWDs) by size exclusion chromatography; and (c) global mass fractions of St in the co‐ and terpolymer, by UV‐Vis spectroscopy. The model predicts the MWDs of the three polymeric components of MBS: free St‐MMA copolymer, St‐MMA‐g‐PB graft terpolymer (GT), and residual PB. In addition, it predicts the bivariate chain length distributions of the different GT topologies, with each topology characterized by the number of branches per molecule. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010 |
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| Keywords: | graft copolymer molecular weight distribution modelling |
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