The effect of hydrostatic pressures as high as 1,700 atm at 25 C on the heat and radiation resistance of Bacillus pumilus spores was studied. Phosphate-buffered spores were more sensitive to compression than spores suspended in distilled water. Measurements of the turbidity of suspensions, the viability, refractility, stainability, dry weight, and respiratory activity of spores, and calcium and dipicolinic acid release were made for different pressures and times. Initiation of germination occurred at pressures exceeding 500 atm and was the prerequisite for inactivation by compression. The rate of initiation increased with increasing pressure at constant temperature. This result is interpreted as a net decrease in the volume of the system during initiation as a result of increased solvation of the spore components.

The polymerization of styrene in bulk at pressures up to 273 MPa and temperatures between 3 and 49°C with the use of γ‐radiation as the initiator has been studied. The polymerization rate and the molecular weight of the polymer increased with increasing pressure; the molecular weight increased at a slightly faster rate. The difference in the rate is a theoretical expectation which has not previously been observed because chain‐transfer reactions obscure the effect in chemically initiated systems. A small but significant retardation of the initiation reaction occurs as the pressure is increased. The results of previous workers are critically reviewed. Chain transfer at 25°C for pressures below 220 MPa is negligible when γ‐radiation is the initiator. The activation energy for bulk polymerization decreased with increasing pressure from 28.1 kJ/mole at 0.1013 MPa to 22.3 kJ/mole at 203 MPa. Volumes of activation at 25°C for 0.1013 < p < 273 MPa were calculated to be Initiation, +4.0 < ΔV 1‡ < +4.4 cm3/mole; polymerization; −Δ pol‡ = −20.9 cm3/mole; degree of polymerization; ΔV DP–‡ = −25.3 cm3/mole; propagation/termination; −ΔV italicp/italict 1/2‡ = −22.7 cm3/mole.

The kinetics of initiation of germination and inactivation by hydrostatic pressure of phosphate-buffered Bacillus pumilus spores is shown to be a consecutive firstorder process at 25 C. The effect of increasing pressure at constant temperature was studied, and rate constants were derived by using the criteria of heat resistance, refractility, and stainability. The calculated volume change of activation (AVt*) was-139 + 6 cm3/mole for loss of heat resistance,-158 i 8 cm'/mole for the loss of refractility, and-153 i 4 cm3/mole for the change in permeability to dilute stains for the pressure range 800 to 1,010 atm at 25 C. It is suggested that the spore exists as a Donnan phase and that pressure triggers germination by influencing the equilibrium.

The pressure dependence of the termination rate constant kt for the free radical polymerization of monomers such as styrene is a function of polymer chain length, chain stiffness, and monomer viscosity, all of which influence the rate of segmental diffusion of an active radical chain end out of the coiled polymer chain to a position in which it can react with a proximate radical. Although kt is not sensitive to changes in chain length, the large increase in molecular weight is responsible for a significant reduction in kt at high pressures. For most of the common vinyl polymers, which exhibit some degree of chain stiffness, kt is inversely proportional to a fractional power of the monomer viscosity because it depends in part on the resistance of chain segments to movement and in part on the influence of viscosity in controlling diffusion of the chain ends. The fractional exponent appears to increase with pressure and this is interpreted as evidence that the polymer chains become more flexible in a more viscous solvent. Because the fractional exponent is higher for more flexible chains, the value of the activation volume for chain termination is an indication of the degree of flexibility of the polymer chains, provided that the monomer is a good solvent for the polymer and that chain transfer is negligible.

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