Mathematical Modeling of the Internal Surface Area of Copolymer Particles Based on Elementary Gel Structures

Author(s)

Aguiar, Leandro G.

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: MACROMOLECULAR REACTION ENGINEERING; v. 10, n. 6, p. 588-599, DEC 2016.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

The present work describes a kinetic approach which is able to predict how the internal surface area of polymer particles evolve during suspension copolymerization in the presence of porogen. For such a purpose, the concept of elementary gel structures has been introduced by modeling their surface area through the numerical fractionation technique. Thus, variables such as diluents composition, divinyl monomer concentration, and dilution degree could be assessed in the simulations. The present mathematical model is validated by using different experimental data from literature and a fair agreement is reached. Furthermore, the developed model is also capable of predicting the most significant copolymerization variables, e.g., conversion rate, concentration of species, and average molecular weights. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/22080-9 - Experimental study and mathematical modeling of the production of styrene-based resins and their applications in heterogeneous catalysis
• Grantee: Leandro Gonçalves de Aguiar
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants