Chain Transfer to Additives in the Polymerization of Vinyl Chloride

Abstract In the polymerization of vinyl chloride, as in other radical polymeriza-tion processes, the chain transfer reaction plays a large part. The state of knowledge on the chain transfer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) radicals to vinyl chloride and to PVC was recently considered in detail in the papers of Xie, Hamielec, Wood, and Woods [1-3]. In the present paper, chain trans-fer to various additives in the polymerization mixture is reviewed. These include chain transfer agents (CTA) used as regulators of the molecular weight of PVC. The review relates, on the whole, to chain transfer which proceeds without causing significant change in the polymerization rate; chain transfer leading to inhibition of polymerization is not discussed.