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Norman Sleep

What is the difference between bulk and solution polymerization?

Adam Shakur  Follow

The difference is nothing more than the presence or absence of a solvent.

Solution polymerization is just that: The monomer is dissolved in a solvent and then polymerized. Among the advantages are that the viscosity of the solution remains relatively low as the polymerization proceeds. Also, the heat generated during polymerization is easily managed. An example of solution polymerization is preparation of aromatic polyamides such as Kevlar or Nomex.

Bulk polymerizations are polymerizations run in the absence of a solvent and have the advantage of being cheap with no solvent to recycle or remove or otherwise process. Acrylic polymerizations for preparing acrylic sheets are examples.

The Wikipedia has good discussions of each of these types of polymerizations.

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Carl Watson  Follow

Additional polymerization is just the simple addition of monomers. In this case, monomers have unsaturated bonds which normally open up and join with the other monomer. It starts with peroxide radical formation which attacks monomers to produce monomer radical. Activated monomer radical attacks other monomer units with double or triple bonds for form long chains. Reaction stops when two monomer radicals react with each other to form stable molecule. The length of the chain and reaction times are controllable. Additional polymerization is faster and produces non-biodegradable polymers

Monomers are unsaturated molecules

In this the backbone of the polymer will be carbon atoms. Examples are Polyethylene, polypropylene etc

In condensation polymerization, the monomers have functional groups like -OH / COOH… etc. In this case, functional group of two monomers react and normally loose some atoms/molecules to form the polymer.

Monomers are saturated molecules

Examples are polyesters, polyamides (Nylon)

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