Date of Award
8-2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Chemistry
Committee Member
Dr. Joseph S. Thrasher, Committee Chair
Committee Member
Dr. Darryl D. DesMarteau
Committee Member
Dr. Stephen E. Creager
Committee Member
Dr. William T. Pennington
Abstract
The addition of a pilot-scale tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) polymerization facility at Clemson University has enabled this academic institution to not only prepare TFE in kilogram quantities but also to store it and copolymerize it in safe conditions. The facility is used to prepare equimolar mixtures of TFE/CO2 from the pyrolysis of potassium perfluoropropionate in approximately quantitative yields. The TFE is separated from the mixture and stabilized by D-limonene by scrubbing CO2 from the aforementioned mixture. With the development of high technology software and hardware, the facility has been used to study the relative reactivity ratios of various polymerizations systems like the copolymerization of TFE with sulfonyl fluoride-substituted vinyl ethers [(perfluoro-3-oxa-4-pentene sulfonyl fluoride [DOW monomer] and perfluoro-2-(2-fluorosulfonylethoxy) propyl vinyl ether [PSEPVE]), methyl perfluoro(4-oxa-5-hexanoate) (DEVE), and perfluoro 8-cyano-5-methyl-3,6-dioxa-1-octene (8CNVE)], and vinylidene difluoride (VDF), in the presence and absence of CO2. Some results from these studies as well as further details on the facility will be presented.
Recommended Citation
Hercules, Daniel A., "Development of a Pilot-Scale Polymerization Facility and Monomer Preparation for the Determination of Reactivity Ratios for Tetrafluoroethylene (TFE)-Based Copolymers" (2016). All Dissertations. 2169.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2169
Supplemental file