How Does Feed Composition AffectReactants in ATRcP: A Monte Carlo Simulation

The variations of reactants concentration at various feed compositions in atom transfer radical copolymerization (ATRcP) of styrene and n-butyl acrylate were studied by employing a Monte Carlo simulation method. As the feed is enriched with styrene (larger values), the concentrations of initiated chains, initial free radicals, and CuBr2revealed a growth in the primary stages of copolymerization and then reached a plateau; however, the concentration of other reactants such as initiator, dormant chains, and CuBr dropped during the copolymerization process. Furthermore, monomer conversion declined at larger values, and further addition of styrene had a direct effect on the other indexes of the copolymerization system, namely the concentration of dead polymers and dormant chains of styrene as their graphs indicate a surge