Estimation of the reaction rate constant and the average chain length in free radical polymerization with initiation at the interphase boundary
摘要
The aim of this work is to provide a simple tool for estimating the effective free radical polymerization rate constant and average chain length for multiphase systems when initiation occurs only at the phase boundary. Three cases are considered - polymerization of monomer layer, droplet and jet. The radical distribution profile was found for each geometry by approximating the solution of the appropriate diffusion-reaction problem in a limit of low and high Damköhler number. Averaging of corresponding profile over the system volume allows us to estimate expressions for effective rate constant and average chain length in terms of a Damköhler number. The expressions obtained in this way were shown to be in a good agreement with numerical calculations.