The mechanism of convective mass transfer during the frontal radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate

A mechanism of the gravitational convective mass transfer from a reaction z one to a monomer medium was studied in the case of a frontal polymerization process in methyl methacrylate (MMA), with the conversion front propagatin g downward along the vertical axis. The mass transfer proceeds in two stage s. In the first stage, coil agglomerates are formed from a high-molecular f raction. In the second stage, these agglomerates are transferred by convect ion from the reaction zone to the monomer medium under the action of the gr avitational field. The degree of the convective mass transfer manifestation depends on the viscosity of the unreacted mixture occurring beneath the re action front.