Overview / Checklist

Overview

In this Lesson, we are going to learn how free radical polymerization works, what the actual mechanism of the reaction is like, and why it happens. Free radical polymerization is a type of chain growth polymerization, but not the only one – in coming lessons we will cover other kinds of chain growth mechanisms, including ionic polymerization and ring opening polymerization. For now, in Lesson 4 and 5, we are going to focus on free radical, which is one of the most common types of polymerization. We are breaking down the topic of free radical polymerization into two lessons: Lesson 4 focuses on the reaction mechanisms and Lesson 5 focuses on the reaction kinetics.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Identify monomers that can undergo free radical polymerization.
• Draw arrow pushing mechanisms for polymerization by free radical polymerization, including initiation, propagation, termination (by combination or disproportionation), and chain transfer.
• Name and describe the stages of the free radical polymerization mechanism.
• Identify the head and tail of a monomer and whether a reaction occurred in a head to tail, head to head, or tail to tail fashion in a polymer and why
• Describe the effects of chain transfer on polymer skeletal structure

Lesson Checklist

Please refer to the Canvas Calendar for specific timeframes.

Questions?

If you have questions, please feel free to post them to the General Questions and Discussion forum. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help a classmate.