高分子材料与工程专业英语课文.docVIP

UNIT 12 Bulk Polymerization Bulk polymerization traditionally has been defined as the formation of polymer from pure, undiluted monomers. Incidental amounts of solvents and small amounts of catalysts, promoters, and chain-transfer agents may also be present according to the classical definition. This definition, however, serves little practical purpose. It includes a wide variety of polymers and polymerization schemes that have little in common, particularly from the viewpoint of reactor design. The modern gas-phase process for polyethylene satisfies the classical definition, yet is a far cry from the methyl methacrylate and styrene polymerization which remain single-phase throughout the polymerization and are more typically thought of as being bulk. ? A common feature of most bulk polymerization and other processes not traditionally classified as such is the need to process fluids of very high viscosity. The high viscosity results from the presence of, dissolved polymer in a continuous liquid phase. Significant concentrations of a high molecular-weight polymer typically increase fluid viscosities by 104 or more compared to the unreacted monomers. This suggests classifying a polymerization as bulk whenever a substantial concentration of polymer occurs in the continuous phase. Although this definition encompasses a wide variety of polymerization mechanisms, it leads to unifying concepts in reactor design. The design engineer must confront the polymer in its most intractable form, i. e. , as a high viscosity solution or polymer melt. The revised definition makes no sharp distinction between bulk and solution polymerizations and thus reflects industrial practice. Several so-called bulk processes for polystyrene and ABS? use 5%~15% solvent as a processing aid and chain-transfer agent. Few successful processes have used the very large amounts of solvent needed to avoid high viscosities in the continuous phase, although this approach is sometimes used for laboratory prepa