Copolymerization of the Pair Maleic Anhydride‐Dicyclopentadiene: II. Kinetics at Low Conversion

Kinetic investigations regarding the copolymerization of the pair maleic anhydride (MA)–di‐cyclo‐pentadiene (DCPD) are presented. It has been shown that copolymerization takes place mainly by cross‐propagation, implying both free monomers and charge transfer complexes (CTC) as well. In this case, homo‐propagation of MA, even minor, can no longer be overlooked; termination is due to a degradative transfer. A suitable kinetic model has been devised, on this basis; the proposed model has been checked against experimental measurements.

Keywords:

• maleic anhydride
• dicyclopentadiene
• copolymerization
• kinetics
• reaction mechanism