Molecular Weight Distribution Control in a Semi-batch `Living´ Anionic Polymerization. I. Theoretical Study

COUSO, D. A.; ALASSIA, L. M.; MEIRA, G. R.

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE

Año: 1985 vol. 30 p. 3249 - 3265

0021-8995

A method to produce homopolymers of preestablished molecular weight distribution (MWD), through ´living´ anionic polymerizations carried out in homogeneous semibatch reactors is proposed and theoretically justified. In the direct form of the technique, very fast reactions are assumed, and the monomer and ´killing´ agent feed flows are obtained from the knowledge of the desired MWD, the system spreading function, the total reaction time, the initial reaction volume, and the reagent concentrations. Alternatively, by controlling a reactor outlet flow instead of the ´killing´ agent feed, an external deactivation of the ´living´ ends can be implemented.