Radiation-Induced Polymerization of Ethyl Vinyl Ether

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Abstract
The radiation-induced polymerization of ethyl vinyl ether has been studied in bulk under conditions of extreme dryness and saturated with water. Drying was found to increase the rate by nearly thirty times. Water produced a similar reduction in the molecular weights of the polymers. Some evidence was found for the concurrent production, by radiolysis, of inhibiting species, probably alcohols. When this was corrected for by taking initial rates, a clear square-root dependence of the rate of polymerization on the dose rate was found with the super dry monomer system. Similarly, by extrapolating the molecular weight data to zero dose, a measure of the chain transfer to monomer constants could be obtained. By using the electrical conductivity values obtained by Hayashi, Williams and co-workers, an estimate of the rate constants for propagation were obtained. These compared well with those obtained in parallel studies with a “free” cationic chemical initiator.