Free radical polymerisation of methyl methacrylate initiated by multi-site phase transfer catalyst—a kinetic study

Abstract

The kinetics of multi-site phase transfer catalysed (MPTC) radical polymerisation of methyl methacrylate (MMA) using potassium peroxydisulphate (PDS) and synthesised 1, 4-Bis (tributyl methyl ammonium) benzene dichloride (TBMABDC) as multi-site phase transfer catalyst was investigated in cyclohexane–water two-phase system at constant temperature 60 ± 1 °C under nitrogen circumstances. The role of concentrations of monomer, initiator, catalyst and volume fraction of aqueous phase, solvent polarity and temperature on the rate of polymerisation (Rp) was ascertained. The order with respect to monomer, initiator and phase transfer catalyst were found to be 0.80, 1.0 and 0.5, respectively. A suitable kinetic scheme has been proposed to account for the experimental observations and its significance is discussed. The prepared polymer was characterised by spectral analysis.