ABSTRACT
Unsaturated monomers are converted to polymers through chain reactions. In chain polymerization processes, the active center is retained at the end of a growing polymer chain and monomers are added to this center in rapid succession. The rate of addition of monomers to the active center relative to the overall conversion of the monomer to polymer is quite fast. This means that high-molecular-weight polymers are generated even while most of the monomers remain intact. Also, polymers formed at the initial stage of the reaction are little affected by the extent of reaction and are of comparable molecular weight with those formed later in the reaction. Thus in a partially polymerized mixture, only highmolecular-weight polymers and unchanged monomers are present with virtually no intermediates between these ends of the molecular weight spectrum.
