Peroxo salts as initiators of vinyl polymerization—V. Polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by the peroxomonosulphate-thioglycolic acid system

Abstract

Aqueous thermal polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) initiated by peroxomonosulphate (HSO 5 −, PMS)-thioglycolic acid (TGA) redox system was studied in the temperature range 30–60°. The effects of [monomer], [initiator], [reducing agent], pH, ionic strength and temperature on rate of polymerization ( R p) were studied. R p was found to depend on [AN] 2.0, [HSO 5 −] 1.0 and [TGA] −1.0. The overall activation energy was found to be 23.0 kJ·mol −1. A reaction scheme involving initiation by RS ., SO 4 .− and OH and linear termination has been proposed to explain the kinetics.