Kinetic Simulations of Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) in Light of Chain Length Dependent Termination

Kinetic simulations using the composite kt model allows a better understanding of the effects of the persistent radical affecting ATRP or for that matter any activation-deactivation system. It also provides a better fit to experimental data in either bulk or solution conditions for ATRP polymerizations carried out at 110 degrees C. The results suggest that the composite model has broad utility over a wide range of experimental conditions and temperatures. The advantage of incorporating an accurate kt model is that one can then use simulations as predictive tool to obtain polymers with higher chain-end fidelity or polymers with low PDI values. This becomes important when attempting to use the chain-ends for further functionalization to make complex polymer architectures. This model can also be used in simulations of miniemulsion or seeded emulsions to determine the effect of compartmentalization with particle size.