AbstractA new type dilatometer has been described which will automatically record the volume changes which occur during the entire course of polymerization reactions. Experiments have shown that the weight per cent polymer in a monomer solution is more accurately described as a function of additive densities of monomer and polymer than of additive volumes of monomer and polymer. The operation of the dilatometer, the relation of the observed volume changes to monomer conversion to polymer, and the possible errors involved in these type measurements have been discussed. The apparatus has been used to obtain rate curves for the polymerization of both linear and crosslinked vinyl monomer compositions over the entire course of polymerization, despite the early formation of a firm crosslinked gel structure in the latter case.
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