STUDIES ON THE MECHANISM OF METHYL-METHACRYLATE POLYMERIZATION INITIATED BY VOLATILE AND NONVOLATILE PRODUCTS OF METHYL-METHACRYLATE PLASMA

The volatile (VPP) and nonvolatile (NVPP) products of methyl methacrylate (MMA) reaction in plasma chamber were used as initiators of MMA polymerization. From the structure analyses of the two initiators, the measurement of polymerization kinetics, and the determination of the molecular weight of resultant polymers, we found that MMA polymerization initiated by NVPP is a typical radical mechanism of polymerization which undergoes a process of continuous initiation and bi-function termination, while VPP-initiated polymerization suggested a mechanism of living radical process (polymerization with instantaneous initiation, chain-transfer to monomer, without termination).