Growing chain macroradical recombinations during the heterogeneous polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene

Abstract

The ESR method has been used to study the kinetics of decay of growing chain macroradicals in the γ-irradiated PTFE during the polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE). The change of the state of radicals in the matrix is found to be the result of consecutive acts of monomer additions to the radical. The recombination kinetics are studied on a lattice model. They are described by a single constant, namely the rate constant of chain propagation. The radical recombination data are used to determine the product of the rate constant of chain propagation with that of the monomer solubility in the polymer. The good agreement of the results confirms the validity of such an examination.