It is known that oxygen (O2) stops radical
polymerization
(RP). Here, it was found that the reaction turn-off occurs abruptly
at a threshold concentration of O2, [O2]t, for both free RP and reversible addition–fragmentation
chain-transfer polymerization (RAFT). In some reactions, there was
a spontaneous re-start of conversion. Three cases were investigated:
RP of (i) acrylamide (Am) and (ii) sodium styrene sulfonate (SS) and
(iii) Am RAFT polymerization. A controlled flow of O2 into
the reactor was employed. An abrupt turn-off was observed in all cases,
where polymerization stops sharply at [O2]t and
remains stopped when [O2] > [O2]t. In (i), Am acts as a catalytic radical-transfer agent during conversion
plateau, eliminating excess [O2], and polymerization spontaneously
resumes at [O2]t. In no reaction, the initiator
alone was capable of eliminating O2. N2 purge
was needed to re-start reactions (ii) and (iii). For (i) and (ii),
while [O2] < [O2]t, O2 acts a chain termination agent, reducing the molecular weight (M
w) and reduced viscosity (RV). O2 acts as an inhibitor for [O2] > [O2]t in all cases. The radical-transfer rates from Am* and SS*
to O2 are >10,000× higher than the initial chain
propagation
step rates for Am and SS, which causes [O2]t at very low [O2].