PULSE-RADIOLYSIS OF POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE) IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTION .2. DECAY OF MACRORADICALS

Pulse radiolysis studies on the decay of macroradicals derived from po ly(ethylene oxide) in deaerated aqueous solution have shown that this process does not follow classical second-order kinetics. This is attri buted to the nature of the dominating reaction, i.e. intramolecular re combination. The rate of decay depends mainly on the average initial n umber of radicals formed on one chain (Z(R)o) It is shown that the dec ay may be well described with the non-homogeneous kinetics with time-d ependent rate constant in the form k = B t(alpha-1). The influence of polymer concentration, molecular weight and Z(R)o on the parameter alp ha (a measure of non-homogeneity) is discussed.