RADIATION-INDUCED HETEROGENEOUS POLYMERIZATION OF ETHYLENE IN PRESENCE OF ETHYL-ALCOHOL

Experimental program is reported in which the effects of amount of ethyl alcohol, pressure, and dose rate on the rate of polymerization at the steady state, the amount of polymerized monomer, the molecular weight of polymer, and the number of polymer chains were studied compared with the results obtained in the polymerization in tert-butyl alcohol. The rate of polymerization was maximum when about 50 ml of ethyl alcohol was used. The molecular weight of polymer increased with a decrease in the amount of ethyl alcohol. The results were analyzed by a kinetic treatment based on a reaction mechanism containing both first-and second-order terminations. It was found that chain transfer to ethyl alcohol takes place easily and the G value of ethyl alcohol for initiation is larger than 1. 5.