STANNOUS CHLORIDE AS AN EFFECTIVE INITIATOR FOR COPOLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE WITH MALEIC-ANHYDRIDE

Stannous chloride was found to be an effective initiator for copolymer ization of styrene (ST) with maleic anhydride (MAH). The combination o f stannous chloride as an electron donor and MAH as an electron accept or monomer forms charge transfer complex to produce initiating radical for copolymerization of ST with MAH. The kinetics of copolymerization was studied in the temperature range of 30-60 degrees C, and the acti vation energy was deter mined from Arrhenius plots of polymerization r ate. The overall energy of activation as calculated from Arrhenius plo t was found to be 23.8 kcal/mol. The rate of copolymerization (Rp) was found to be dependent on the [SnCl2 . 2H(2)O](0.97) ([MAH]+[ST])(3.1) .