Kinetics of radical telomerization of vinylidene fluoride in the presence of CCl3Z chain transfer agents

The kinetics of radical telomerization of VDF at 141 °C, initiated by ditertbutylperoxide, in the presence of three chain transfer agents (CTAs), HCCl3, CCl4 and CCl3Br, are presented. The values of the chain transfer constants were assessed as 35, 0.25 and 0.06 at 141 °C for CCl3Br, CCl4 and HCCl3, respectively. The values of the degree of polymerization (DPn) were obtained for each CTA and were compared for the same CTA concentration. Hence, CCl3Br behaved as an efficient CTA towards VDF and usually afforded the monoadduct selectively, but in certain conditions the VDF diadduct can also be produced. In contrast, HCCl3 was not so efficient since a polymeric structure was identified as the major product.