Polymerization of a divalent metal salt of an unsaturated carboxylic acid stimulated by ion exchange with a metal salt of fatty acids

Abstract

The thermal polymerization of 1:1 mixtures of zinc diacrylate (ZDA) and zinc dialkanoate (ZDCx) was investigated. The mixtures started to melt at lower temperatures than the melting points of the original components, and the polymerizations of the acrylate portions progressed in the molten state at lower temperatures than the thermal polymerization temperature of ZDA alone. The accelerated polymerization rate was found to be triggered by ion exchange in which one of the carboxylate anions of ZDA was exchanged with the alkanoate of ZDCx, just above the melting point.