Polymerization of ethyl methacrylate under the influence of ultrasound assisted a new multi-site phase-transfer catalyst system – A kinetic study

The kinetics of multi-site phase-transfer catalyzed free radical polymerisation of ethyl methacrylate (EMA) using potassium peroxy disulphate (PDS) as a water soluble initiator and newly synthesized 1,4-dihexadecylpyrazine-1,4-diium dibromide as multi-site phase-transfer catalyst (MPTC) has been investigated in ethyl acetate/water two phase system at constant temperature 55 ± 1 °C under nitrogen atmosphere and ultrasound irradiation conditions. The rate of polymerization increases with an increase in concentrations of EMA, PDS and MPTC. The order with respect to monomer, initiator and MPTC were found to be 1.03, 0.52 and 0.53, respectively. Based on the observed results a suitable mechanism has been proposed to account for the experimental observations and its significance was discussed.

► A new multi-site phase-transfer catalyst was used for the polymerization of ethyl methacrylate.
► Combined effect of ultrasound with various kinetic parameters was studied.
► The effect of different ultrasonic frequency.
► The rate of polymerization enhanced with frequency.