A full exploitation of the pulsed laser polymerization technique to assess all important rate coefficients in acrylate radical polymerization

Free-radical polymerization (FRP) processes are extensively applied for the production of macromolecular materials, since they allow the synthesis of a large variety of vinyl polymers under mild reaction conditions and with a high tolerance toward impurities.[1] Despite the high industrial importance of FRP, the quantitative understanding of radical polymerization kinetics is still incomplete. Accurate knowledge of Arrhenius parameters and rate coefficients for key reactions such as chain initiation, propagation, and termination is a prerequisite for FRP design, particularly when conducted in large-scale reactors, in which temperature control is a key issue.