OPTIMIZATION OF NITROXIDE MEDIATED POLYMERIZATION FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF TAILOR-MADE COPOLYMERS

FORTUNATTI, C.; SARMORIA, C.; BRANDOLIN, A.; ASTEASUAIN, M.

Rosario

Congreso; VII CAIQ 2013 y 2das JASP; 2013

AAIQ Asociación Argentina de Ingenieros Químicos

Since its discovery in the mid ?90s, controlled radical polymerization techniques have undergone a huge development because they represent an alternative for ionic polymerizations that does not require so stringent purity conditions to be carried out. Controlled radical polymerization offers the possibility for synthesizing (co) polymers not only with controlled molecular weight and polydispersity, but also with different complex molecular architectures. The copolymer microstructure impacts the final properties of the resin. Therefore, models able to predict the chain architecture are of major importance for the production of materials with pre-specified characteristics. In this work, the controlled radical copolymerization of St and MMA in tubular and semibatch reactors is optimized in order to obtain optimal operating and design conditions for producing well-defined block copolymers. The process model that is used is able to predict not only the average properties but also the full bivariate MWD. The results are helpful in selecting the process conditions based on the required characteristics of the material to be produced. Besides, it is shown that the large-scale production of tailor-made copolymers can be carried out in a relatively simple way.