Termination, Transfer, and Propagation Kinetics of Trimethylaminoethyl Acrylate Chloride Radical Polymerization in Aqueous Solution

The SP-PLP EPR (single pulse pulsed laser polymerization electron paramagnetic resonance) method has been used to measure the rate coefficients of termination, intramolecular transfer, and propagation for the radical polymerization of 20 wt % trimethylaminoethyl acrylate chloride (TMAEA) in the temperature range 0-90 degrees C. The high complexity of this acrylate system is due to water being the solvent, to the monomer being a strong electrolyte, and to both secondary chain-end radicals and tertiary midchain radicals being simultaneously present. The termination kinetics, which was analyzed by a chain-length-dependent scheme, largely differs from the situation met with nonionized radicals. The reliability of the rate coefficients obtained from the SP-PLP-EPR experiments has been demonstrated by the almost perfect agreement of TMAEA conversion vs time data from simulation, on the basis of these coefficients, and from the chemically initiated TMAEA polymerization experiment at 70 degrees C.