Abstract
This article continues a cycle of investigations into the process of liquid-phase bulk polymerisation of isoprene in small-volume cells. The investigations were based on a developed mathematical model. It was shown by calculation and experiment that the optimum process takes place in small-volume cells of cylindrical shape with a height of the reaction layer of no more than 3–4 mm. The dependence of temperature on time, the average monomer conversion, and the polymerisation time were calculated, and the data obtained were compared with data for a reactor (small-volume cell) of semi-spherical shape. The temperature and time of polymerisation in different layers of the cylindrical cell were also calculated. From the data obtained it follows that the productivity of a cylindrical reactor in any case, even at a lower polymerisation temperature, is far higher than the productivity of a small-volume reactor of semi-spherical shape. The properties of the polyisoprene obtained – its physicomechanical properties, microstructure, and gel fraction content – are not inferior to and in some cases are superior to the properties of standard industrial SKI-3 specimens. Apparatus is recommended for the process.
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