Competitive processes in controlled cationic ring-opening polymerization of oxetane: a Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model of two growing species competing for the same resources

Hassen Bouchékif*, Allan J. Amass

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The activation-deactivation pseudo-equilibrium coefficient Qt and constant K0 (=Qt x PaT1,t = ([A1]x[Ox])/([T1]x[T])) as well as the factor of activation (PaT1,t) and rate constants of elementary steps reactions that govern the increase of Mn with conversion in controlled cationic ring-opening polymerization of oxetane (Ox) in 1,4-dioxane (1,4-D) and in tetrahydropyran (THP) (i.e. cyclic ethers which have no homopolymerizability (T)) were determined using terminal-model kinetics. We show analytically that the dynamic behavior of the two growing species (A1 and T1) competing for the same resources (Ox and T) follows a Lotka-Volterra model of predator-prey interactions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)112-121
Number of pages10
JournalMacromolecular Symposia
Volume308
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2011

Keywords

  • kinetics
  • living
  • Lotka-Volterra
  • mechanism
  • polymerization

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