PROCESS FOR CONTROL OF MOLECULAR WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION IN POLYMERS

摘要

This invention relates to a polymerization process for producing polyme rs with narrow molecular weight distributions. It comprises addition of monomer and initiator to a reaction vessel using a selected monomer feed profile and an initiator feed profile calculated from a polymerization kinetics relationshi p between a selected degree of polymerization and monomer concentration, initiator concentration, reaction temperature and a polymerization efficiency factor t o obtain an approximately constant degree of polymerization for polymer produced duri ng the polymerization process. The polymerization efficiency factor accounts fo r deviations from ideal kinetics relationships. This process can be used in a semi- batch or semi-continuous mode as a method of producing polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions, particularly acrylate and methacrylate polymers.