Thermal and microwave‐activate non‐aqueous free‐radical dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate in n‐heptane

Abstract

Thermal and microwave-induced free-radical non-aqueous dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of poly(styrene)-block-poly(ethene-alt-propene) dispersing agent were compared. For controlled polymerization in the microwave field, a new microwave polymerization reactor was built to afford uniform heating and to control temperature via microwave power variation. At identical MMA concentration and polymerization temperature of70 "C no special effect of the microwave field on conversions, molecular weights and particle sizes of PMMA was detected with respect to conventional thermal free radical dispersion polymerization.

Microwave‐Assisted Polymer Synthesis: State‐of‐the‐Art and Future Perspectives

“…In this context, it is worth mentioning that Mülhaupt and coworkers observed no difference in terms of molecular weights, polydispersities, stereoregularities, particle sizes, and particle-size distributions between conventional and microwave heating for the dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate in heptane. [142] The corresponding experiments were performed in a specially equipped microwave reactor (cf. reference [78] and Figure 8).…”

Kinetic Investigation into the Non‐Thermal Microwave Effect on the Ring‐Opening Polymerization of ε‐Caprolactone

“…thermal microwave effect can be observed in some microwave-assisted polymerizations. [10][11][12] Very recently, Schubert et al demonstrated that the cationic ROP of 2-oxazoline and its derivatives was accelerated under a superheated condition by conventional heating, although a similar acceleration induced by microwave heating (MH) had previously been observed. [12][13][14][15] Similarly, we revealed that the enhancement of flash conventional heating (FCH) on the ROP of e-CL with Sn(Oct) 2 as a catalyst, matched well that seen with MH.…”

Microwave Accelerated Polymerization of 2‐Phenyl‐2‐oxazoline: Microwave or Temperature Effects?

“…Only during the last several years, polymer chemists have discovered the advantages of microwave irradiation as well 4,5. The effect of microwave irradiation has been mainly investigated for step‐growth polymerizations,6,7 ring‐opening polymerizations,8–10 and for both free and controlled radical polymerizations 11–13. Contradictory reports on the (non‐)existence of microwave effects have been reported for both the ring‐opening polymerization of ε ‐caprolactone (e.g.…”