Simulation of radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate at room temperature using a tertiary amine/BPO initiating system

Abstract

The decomposition kinetics of the initiation reaction between benzoyl peroxide and a tertiary amine, either dimethyl-p-toluidine or dihydroxyethyl-p-toluidine, was studied by infrared spectroscopy and an Arrhenius plot was established. Based on these results, a model was developed for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate at room temperature. The model used both free volume and empirical models for propagation, termination and several side reactions. The model described the conversion for a very broad range of reaction conditions and the results were in good agreement with the experimental data. This study showed significant differences between dimethyl-p-toluidine and dihydroxyethyl-p-toluidine with respect to the gel time and the molar mass of poly(methyl methacrylate).