Abstract
The propagation of one-dimensional waves resulting from chemical reactions in a sandwich-type two-layer setting is considered. One layer, termed the polymerization layer, contains the monomer and initiator molecules needed for the initiation of a self-propagating polymer front. The other layer will be referred to as the enhancement layer, and it contains the necessary reactants to support a highly exothermic self-propagating reaction wave. Heat exchange occurs between the layers, and as a result, there is a net diffusion of heat away from the region undergoing the more exothermic reaction. As frontal polymerization (FP) reactions are known not to be very exothermic, an overall transfer of heat from the enhancement layer into the polymerization layer takes place. An analysis of the basic state of the system is carried out to investigate the effect of heat transfer on the polymerization reaction. An enhancement layer is shown to promote FP. This analysis is applicable to the manufacture of thin polymer films by FP.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 423-435 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Engineering Mathematics |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2007 |
Funding
Acknowledgements D. M. G. Comissiong acknowledges support from the Center for Mathematics (CMUC) at the University of Coimbra, and from a Smith fellowship received at Northwestern University. This research has been supported in part by NSF grants DMS-0103856 and CTS-0138712.
Keywords
- Enhancement layer
- Free-radical polymerization
- Frontal polymerization
- Mathematical model
- Traveling wave
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Mathematics
- General Engineering