Chain-growth polymerization reactions Lab Report

Chain-growth polymerization reactions - Lab Report Example Chain growth polymerization occurs in distinctive steps. The first step involves chain initiation in which an initiator commences the chemical process. The next step involves chain elongation followed by chain transfer. Chain transfer concludes the chain after which the active site is moved to the new chain. Polymers, solvents and monomers can facilitate this. This processes leads to an increase in the branching of the ensuing polymer. Chain termination occurs as the last step through disproportion or combination. Termination in fundamental polymerization occurs when free radicals combine. The active center for a chain growth polymerization can assume the state of a free radical in the corresponding polymerization. Radical polymerization in this case involves the successive addition of radical building blocks. This can occur through several mechanisms, which involve different initiator molecules (Wünsch 131). After the generation process, the initiating radical adds monomer units, which leads to the growth of the polymer. Chain growth polymerization such as radical polymerization reactions leads to the generation of different material composites and polymers. Radical polymerization involves different initiators such as thermal decomposition in which the bond is homolytically cleaved leading to the production of two radicals. Photolysis involves the use of radiation in cleaving bonds homolytically. The initiation step is followed by the propagation in which the polymer increases its chain length. The termination process follows unless the reaction has contaminants, which can contribute to the addition of monomers (Richardson, and Erik 92). Chain transfer occurs as the last step, which leads to the destruction of a radical and construction of another radical. However, the new radical usually does not have propagation capabilities. Chain growth polymerization leads to the formation of an elevated molecular weight polymer at low conversion. In this case, the