THERMALLY INITIATED POLYMERIZATION PROCESS

摘要

The present invention is directed to a thermally initiated polymerization process. The process provides for heating in a reactor a reaction mixture comprising one or more acrylate monomers to a polymerization temperature ranging from 120°C to 500°C, and polymerizing the reaction mixture into a polymer. Applicants made an unexpected discovery that acrylate monomers can be used as thermal initiators, which makes the process more economical than conventional thermally initiated polymerization processes. The reaction mixture can also include non-acrylate monomers. Several novel steps are also disclosed to control the molecular weight and the polydispersity of the resulting polymer are also disclosed. The polymers made by the low cost process of the present invention have wide application, such as in automotive OEM and refinish coating compositions.