A Comparative Study between FRP and ATRP of Styrene by Monte Carlo Simulation: Effect of Free Radical Mobility

Styrene polymerization through FRP and ATRP methods was carried out at 110oC, while in-depth studies were performed by Monte Carlo simulation.The changes in monomer conversion, initiator concentration, average molecular weight, and polydispersity index were computed over the course of the polymerization. As the results indicate, compared to ATRP, the FRP reaches higher conversion in a similar reaction time. In addition, the concentration of initiator suddenly drops at the early stages of the ATRP and eventually amounts to zero; chain-length dependent termination rate constant also decreases as the polymerization progresses. However, in case of FRP, the concentration of initiator exponentially falls and termination rate constant rises during the reaction. Furthermore, the average molecular weight increases linearly in the course of ATRP, which testifies the living dynamism of the reaction. Finally, the molecular weight distribution of chains obtained byATRP process is much narrower.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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