Measurement and Modeling of Polymerization Kinetics for Process and Product Development

用于工艺和产品开发的聚合动力学测量和建模

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-03906
• 负责人: Hutchinson, Robin
• 金额: $ 4.01万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=739552
• 关键词: Measurement; Modeling; Polymerization; Kinetics; Process

Increased production rates, the manufacture of new polymeric materials with existing equipment, and the ability to replace processes with cost-effective and environmentally-friendly versions are key drivers in the polymers industry. Academic research, on the other hand, is primarily focused on the synthesis of new polymers from bio-renewable feedstock, or the development of functional materials with controlled microstructures for high value applications. Common to both industrial and academic interests is the need for fundamental knowledge of polymerization kinetics and mechanisms to guide polymer synthesis conditions and process development efforts. My research fills this considerable knowledge gap by applying specialized pulsed-laser techniques to measure key kinetic rate coefficients not accessible through standard experimentation, capturing that knowledge in detailed mechanistic models formulated to represent polymerizing systems, and undertaking targeted experimental studies at relevant conditions to test and validate the models. The long term objective of my research program is to improve understanding of radical polymerization systems to the point where first-principles modeling is a reliable and robust tool for process design and optimization, reducing the experimentation required to design new polymeric materials. My group's recent efforts have demonstrated that water and other hydrogen bonding solvents (particularly those with a hydroxyl group) greatly influence radical polymerization kinetics. Thus, the planned research over the next five years will measure the impact of solvent choice on copolymer microstructure to enable the process modifications required to produce an equivalent material in aqueous and organic solution. A particular focus is the copolymerization kinetics of hydrophobic and functional hydrophilic monomers, as the resulting materials have uses in water-borne and water-soluble coatings and specialty products used as pigment dispersants and in a range of consumer products. The research will also provide further insight into the role of hydrogen bonding on polymerization kinetics, a subject we continue to systematically investigate to increase the predictive power of mechanistic models and reduce the requirement for experimentation. In addition, the program trains graduate students in expertise important to the Canadian polymer industries, and exposes undergraduate students to practical material development and reaction engineering issues.

提高生产率，使用现有设备的新聚合物材料的生产，以及用经济高效且环保版本替换流程的能力，是聚合物行业的关键动力。另一方面，学术研究主要集中于生物可再生原料的新聚合物，或开发具有用于高价值应用的受控微结构的功能材料。工业和学术利益的共同点是需要对聚合动力学和机制的基本知识来指导聚合物合成条件和过程开发工作。我的研究通过应用专门的脉冲激光技术来填补这一可观的知识差距，以测量无法通过标准实验无法访问的关键动力学系数，从而在详细的机械模型中捕获了以表示聚合系统的详细机械模型，并在相关条件下进行有针对性的实验研究以测试和验证模型。我的研究计划的长期目标是提高对激进聚合系统的理解，以至于第一原理建模是一种可靠，可靠的工艺设计和优化工具，从而减少了设计新聚合物材料所需的实验。我小组最近的努力表明，水和其他氢键溶剂（尤其是具有羟基的氢键）极大地影响了自由基聚合动力学。因此，在未来五年内计划的研究将衡量溶剂选择对共聚物微结构的影响，以实现在水性和有机溶液中产生等效材料所需的过程修改。一个特别的重点是疏水和功能亲水性单体的共聚动力学，因为所得的材料在水生植物和水溶性涂层以及用作色素分散剂以及一系列消费产品中的特殊产品中使用。该研究还将进一步了解氢键在聚合动力学中的作用，这是我们继续研究的主题，以增加机械模型的预测能力并减少实验的需求。此外，该计划还培训研究生对加拿大聚合物行业很重要的专业知识，并将本科生暴露于实用的材料开发和反应工程问题。