PROCESS FOR CONTROL OF MOLECULAR WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION IN POLYMERS

摘要

This invention relates to a polymerization process for producing polymers 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 relationship between a selected degree of polymerization and monomer concentration, initiator concentration, reaction temperature and a polymerization efficiency factor to obtain an approximately constant degree of polymerization for polymer produced during the polymerization process. The polymerization efficiency factor accounts for 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.