ABSTRACT
Several important differences exist between the industrial production of polymers and low-molecularweight compounds:
• Generally, polymers of industrial interest have high molecular weights, usually in the range of 10
to 10
. Also, in contrast to simple compounds, the molecular weight of a polymer does not have a unique value but, rather, shows a definite distribution. The high molecular weight of polymers results in high solution or melt viscosities. For example, in solution polymerization of styrene, the viscosity can increase by over six orders of magnitude as the degree of conversion increases from zero to 60%.
