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Updated: May 23, 2026

Interfacial Molecular-level Structures of Polymers and Biomacromolecules Revealed via Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy
Published on: August 13, 2019
Propagation rate coefficients for homogeneous phase VDF-HFP copolymerization in supercritical CO2
Rebekka Siegmann1, Eléonore Möller, Sabine Beuermann
1Institute of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, Potsdam/Golm, Germany.
Abstract:
For the first time, propagation rate coefficients, k(p,COPO) , for the copolymerizations of vinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropene have been determined. The kinetic data was determined via pulsed-laser polymerization in conjunction with polymer analysis via size-exclusion chromatography, the PLP-SEC technique. The experiments were carried out in homogeneous phase with supercritical CO(2) as solvent for temperatures ranging from 45 to 90 °C. Absolute polymer molecular weights were calculated on the basis of experimentally determined Mark-Houwink constants. The Arrhenius parameters of k(p,COPO) vary significantly compared with ethene, which is explained by the high electronegativity of fluorine and less intra- and intermolecular interactions between the partially fluorinated macroradicals.
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