Differences Between Step-growth Polymerization and Chain-growth Polymerization
This technique is usually compared with chain-growth polymerization to show its characteristics.
| Step-growth polymerization | Chain-growth polymerization |
|---|---|
| Growth throughout matrix | Growth by addition of monomer only at one end of chain |
| Rapid loss of monomer early in the reaction | Some monomer remains even at long reaction times |
| Similar steps repeated throughout reaction process | Different steps operate at different stages of mechanism (i.e. Initiation, propagation and termination) |
| Average molecular weight increases slowly at low conversion and high extents of reaction are required to obtain high chain length | Molar mass of backbone chain increases rapidly at early stage and remains approximately the same throughout the polymerization |
| Ends remain active (no termination) | Chains not active after termination |
| No initiator necessary | Initiator required |
Read more about this topic: Step-growth Polymerization
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