Continuous flow photo-initiated RAFT polymerisation using a tubular photochemical reactor

[Display omitted] •Photo-initiated RAFT polymerisation was performed under continuous flow conditions.•Control of molecular weight and polydispersity is obtained at low temperatures.•RAFT agents can act as iniferters to initiate and control polymerisation using UV irradiation.•Effects of light spect...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European polymer journal 2016-07, Vol.80, p.200-207
Main Authors: Gardiner, James, Hornung, Christian H., Tsanaktsidis, John, Guthrie, Duncan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chain transfer
Continuous flow
Fluoropolymers
Photo-initiated polymerisation
Photochemical
Photochemical reactor
Polymerization
Radicals
RAFT polymerisation
Rafts
Reactors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:[Display omitted] •Photo-initiated RAFT polymerisation was performed under continuous flow conditions.•Control of molecular weight and polydispersity is obtained at low temperatures.•RAFT agents can act as iniferters to initiate and control polymerisation using UV irradiation.•Effects of light spectrum and residence time on polymerisation were studied. The RAFT (Reversible Addition–Fragmentation Chain Transfer) approach allows for greatly enhanced control over radical polymerisation processes, resulting in polymers with low dispersity. Classically, RAFT polymerisations are conducted in batch using thermal initiators. Herein, we describe a novel photo-initiated RAFT polymerisation procedure, using a tubular continuous flow reactor for the polymerisation of (meth)acrylates and acrylamides at close to ambient temperatures. This approach makes use of the excellent light penetration properties of millimetre-size fluoropolymer tubing, enabling the synthesis of multigrams/kgs of RAFT polymer per day. A tubular photochemical reactor presents a very practical and compact design for the continuous manufacture of RAFT polymers in quantities that would otherwise be difficult to achieve in a batch system using photo-initiation.
ISSN:0014-3057
1873-1945
DOI:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2016.01.033