Investigations in the field of radiation-induced solid-state polymerization—XXIV The polymerization of cetyl vinyl ether

According to our investigations, cetyl vinyl ether has a smectic liquid crystalline state between its m.p. (16·5°) and −2·5°. Below this temperature range, it has two different solid crystalline states with a phase transition point at −16°. Solid-state polymerizations carried out in the latter two systems gave kinetic curves with linear character but those curves obtained in the liquid crystal line phase were accelerating types. This observation can be explained by the formed polymer not destroying the crystal lattice but actually stabilizing the regular smectic structure. The transition from the liquid crystalline into the three-dimensional structure takes a few hours, therefore it is possible to carry out even below −2·5° an accellerating type of polymerization corresponding to the liquid crystalline structure. The mechanism of the polymerization is probably cationic.