The effect of ferrocene additives on the molecular mass and thermal stability of PMMA

Dependence of the molecular mass characteristics and the thermal stability of PMMA on the ferrocene content in a polymerizing system was studied. The effect of ferrocene on the molecular mass of PMMA is governed by the nature of the polymerization initiator. The addition of ferrocene does not signif icantly change the molecular mass of the obtained polymer when AIBN used as the initiator, but causes a sharp decrease in M-w and M-n for MMA polymeri zation initiated by benzoyl peroxide. For PMMA obtained in the presence of benzoyl peroxide, the degradation onset temperature and the molecular mass vary in opposite directions.