A kinetic modeling framework for the peroxide-initiated radical polymerization of styrene in the presence of rubber particles from recycled tires

A novel modeling framework is presented for the peroxide-initiated radical polymerization of styrene, in the presence of ground-tire rubber particles. The model takes into account the previously observed effects of the rubber particles, and their highly-reactive additives, on the course of the polymerization. To this end, a generalized kinetic mechanism is proposed, on the basis of a typical styrene homopolymerization scheme, including also a series of additional chemical reactions that are implemented to describe the deviation of the system from the respective homopolymerization case when ground-tire rubber is present in the mixture. This deviation is mainly manifested through an accelerated peroxide decomposition and significant retardation and inhibition of the reaction and displays a non-linear dependence on the contents of rubber particles and initiator. The proposed model succeeds in predicting this behavior under different reaction conditions, while its generality makes it suitable for implementation in other similar grafting polymerization systems. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.