GEL PROPERTIES IN FREE-RADICAL CROSS-LINKING COPOLYMERIZATION - A KINETIC APPROACH

A kinetic model is presented for prediction of the gel properties in free-radical monovinyldivinyl monomer copolymerization. It is an extension of the kinetic model proposed recently for the sol species. The model involves the moment equations of the primary chains in the gel, and predicts the gel growth and structure as a function of the reaction time. Formulae for the chain length averages of the primary chains in the sol and in the gel were derived. The equations for calculating the number- and weight-average primary chain lengths are identical to the equations derived by statistical methods.