Radiation induced polymerization of vinylbenzoate

Abstract In this study, the molecular weights of the polymer from vinyl benzoate has been reported for different dose rates and different temperatures. The mol.wt. remains around 4000. With increasing dose, the molecular weight increases to about 14,000. The degrees of polymerization and the kinetic chain lengths calculated from the experimentally determined G R values have been compared which show that the kinetic chain length is larger than the D − Pn. From a plot of the (D − Pn)−1 vs. R p , an intercept is obtained which is equal to 3.25 × 10−2 which is higher than obtained in conventional polymerization. By examining the effect of temperature on mol.wt., the dependence of R p on dose rate and the absence of induction period it has been concluded that chain transfer occurs to impurities that are generated during radiolysis.