An investigation of the kinetics of copolymerization of p-methylstyreneacrylonitrile to high conversion: Modelling diffusion-controlled termination and propagation by free-volume theory

An experimental investigation of the kinetics of the bulk free-radical copolymerization of p-methylstyrene (PMS) and acrylonitrile (AN) initiated with azobisisobutyronitrile was conducted at temperatures of 40, 60 and 80°C. Two levels of initiator concentration and three initial monomer compositions were studied. Conversions were measured gravimetrically and by gas chromatography. Weight average molecular weights were measured by low-angle …