Particle growth in butadiene emulsion polymerization. 2. Gamma radiolysis

The kinetics of the emulsion polymn. of butadiene at 60 Deg in Smith-Ewart interval III were investigated using gamma radiation to produce initiating species. The aim of this work was to det. radical desorption rate coeffs. through monitoring non-steady state kinetics. The acquired data of the av. no. of radicals per particle were in good agreement with data obtained from chem. initiated expts. It was shown that the approach to the steady state was kinetically detd. and that thermal background initiation was negligible in butadiene emulsion polymn. While radical desorption rate coeff. data was detd. with high uncertainty, the results were consistent with the transfer diffusion mechanism of radical exit