In silico mechanically mediated atom transfer radical polymerization: A detailed kinetic study

Mechanically mediated atom transfer radical polymerization (mechanoATRP) utilizing ultrasound to generate activators and improve the diffusivity of macromolecular chains is introduced as an innovative externally controlled ATRP. Herein, a comprehensive kinetic model with free volume theory based “series” encounter pair model accounting for diffusional limitations on termination, activation, and deactivation is developed for the mechanoATRP of methyl acrylate. Comparative study by using different diffusion models, for example, wp model and reduced composite kt model, as well as constant apparent kjapp model confirms the goodness of the as‐developed model. Critically, mechanochemically induced reduction rate coefficient kr,s as a key kinetic parameter is associated with experimental conditions excluding the sonication effect by a fitting equation for the first time. In silico tracking of polymer dispersity with the help of kinetic model shows a better result compared with that by the classical dispersity equation. By defining an ultrasonic factor γj, a qualitative analysis for the effect of ultrasound conditions on the diffusional limitation in mechanoATRP is presented.