Radiation‐induced polymerization of vinyl monomers adsorbed on inorganic substances. VI. Temperature dependence and effects of additives on methyl methacrylate–silica gel system

Abstract

AbstractTo elucidate the reaction mechanism of radiation‐induced polymerization of methyl methacrylate adsorbed on silica gel, the temperature dependence and effects of acetone and pyridine were investigated. It was found that even at −78°C the polymerization rate was quite fast. The amounts of high molecular weight GPC peaks of both graft polymers and homopolymers increased with increasing irradiation temperature. The activation energy of the adsorbed state polymerization was low compared with that of bulk polymerization. The low molecular weight peaks of homopolymers decreased with acetone addition but were almost unaffected by pyridine. The low molecular weight peaks of homopolymers were thus polymerized by an anionic mechanism. In the methyl methacrylate–silica gel system both radical and anionic polymerization take place at the same time in formation of graft polymers and homopolymers. A reaction mechanism for the methyl methacrylate–silica gel system was proposed based on the results obtained to date.