Radical Polymerization of N -Vinylcaprolactam in Benzene Solutions in a Wide Conversion Range

The kinetics of radical polymerization of N-vinylcaprolactam initiated by the thermal decomposition of AIBN at 60°C in monomer solutions in benzene has been studied in a wide range of conversions. The heat of polymerization of N-vinylcaprolactam is 76.0 ± 0.9 kJ/mol; at initial conversions, the polymerization of N-vinylcaprolactam is of the first order with respect to the monomer and of the 0.5th order with respect to the initiator. The ratio of chain propagation and chain termination rate constants k p/k ter 0.5 is 0.578 l0.5/(mol s)0.5, thus suggesting a high propagation rate constant k p > 103 l/(mol s). At a high initial concentration of the monomer, the kinetic curves demonstrate a weakly pronounced gel effect, and, in the gel permeation chromatography curves of the polymers, the second high-molecular-mass mode emerges, whose intensity grows with conversion. The observed kinetic features are interpreted in terms of the diffusion control of the gel effect.