Modeling of Chain Sequence Distribution in Thermoplastic Condensation Terpolymers

This paper presents a kinetic model for the calculation of polymer chain sequence length distribution in a multi-component step-growth polymerization toward the synthesis of bisphenol A co-polycarbonate. The polymerization system consists of three different types of monomers with two kinds of reactive end groups (e.g. A = phenyl carbonate group, B = hydroxyl group), AR1A, BR2B, and BR3B. The kinetic model for melt polycondensation is also extended to a solid state polymerization (SSP). Simulation results show that the reactivity ratio of end groups, the condensate removal rate, particle size, and end group mole ratio have significant effects on the monomer sequence length distribution.