@misc{10481/84479,
year = {2023},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/84479},
abstract = {Precipitation Polymerization (Pre-Poly) can be considered a nucleation and growth process in which
complex and high molecular weight branched polymers are involved. From an experimental point
of view, it is well-known that under Pre-Poly conditions the phase transition (nucleation) occurs in
the first minutes of polymerization, and then a long growth stage is observed in which the critical
nuclei simultaneously grow until reaching a highly monodisperse distribution of microspheres
(characteristic mechanism of binodal decomposition). The high rate at which nucleation and growth
processes usually take place when radical polymerization (extremely high polymerization rate)
under Pre-Poly conditions is used, makes it very difficult to study experimentally some aspects of
these processes, such as the size and concentration of critical nuclei, among others. Based on the
thermodynamic principles of Pre-Poly, this analytical paper covers for the first time, to the best of
2
our knowledge, the theoretical formulation of the distribution function of critical nuclei under PrePoly conditions. In addition, a simple empirical method to calculate the concentration of critical
nuclei was also developed using only three global, physical experimental parameters, and good
agreement was found between empirical and theoretical calculations.},
organization = {This study was supported by grant PID2020-118498GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Spain. A.L.M-C acknowledges funding by Plan Propio-Investigación y Transferencia de la Universidad de Granada: “Programa 9. Proyectos de Investigación para la Incorporación de Jóvenes Doctores a Nuevas Líneas de Investigación en Grupos de la UGR”.},
title = {Theoretical Formulation of the Distribution Function of Critical Nuclei under Precipitation Polymerization Conditions},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2023.126320},
author = {Medina Castillo, Antonio Luis and López López, Modesto Torcuato and Fernández Ramos, María Dolores},
}