Some physicochemical aspects regarding the synthesis of polyvinyl alcohol

The present paper reports some theoretical aspects related to recent technology for the production of polyvinyl alcohol. The procedure involves the polymerization of vinyl acetate in two stages and the alcoholysis of polyvinyl acetate. A model for the calculation of the polymerization degree and grafting degree of vinyl acetate was developed in view of a quantitative evaluation of various possibilities for conducting the polymerization process. The alcoholysis of polyvinyl acetate was studied by conducting the reaction in a Brabender-type mixer. The dependence of the reaction rate on the catalyst or polymer concentration or on the temperature evidences the important role played by the diffusion processes and supports the idea of the cocatalytic effect of OH groups in the alcoholysis reaction of the polyvinyl acetate in the basic catalysis.