Study of n-butyl acrylate self-initiation reaction experimentally and via macroscopic mechanistic modeling

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study of the self-initiation reaction of n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) in free-radical polymerization. For the first time, the frequency factor and activation energy of the monomer self-initiation reaction are estimated from measurements of n-BA conversion in free-radical homo-polymerization initiated only by the monomer. The estimation was carried out using a macroscopic mechanistic mathematical model of the reactor. In addition to already-known reactions that contribute to the polymerization, the model considers a n-BA self-initiation reaction mechanism that is based on our previous electronic-level first-principles theoretical study of the self-initiation reaction. Reaction rate equations are derived using the method of moments. The reaction-rate parameter estimates obtained from conversion measurements agree well with estimates obtained via our purely-theoretical quantum chemical calculations.