SIMULATION OF THE HYDROLYTIC POLYMERIZATION OF EPSILON-CAPROLACTAM WITH BIFUNCTIONAL REGULATORS

A simulation model dealing with the kinetic behavior of the hydrolytic polymerization of epsilon-caprolactam with bifunctional regulators ha s been proposed to analyse such characteristic data of the polymerizat ion as the concentrations of caprolactam, endgroups, epsilon-aminocapr oic acid, cyclic dimer, and as well as conversion, number and weight-a verage molecular weights, and polydispersity index. The calculated val ues based upon the model were found to be quite compatible with the ob served values. It is found that the presence of more bifunctional acid leads to a lower equilibrium value of polydispersity index, unlike th e case of monofunctional acid where the polydispersity index asymptoti cally reaches a value of 2, regardless of the amount of monofunctional acid initially added.