A study on new polymerization technology of styrene

The classic polymerization technology of polystyrene is a high‐cost and nonfriendly environmental technology. Furthermore, the weight‐average molecular weight of polystyrene is hard to enhance up to 400,000 in the classic polymerization technology. The disadvantages limit the growth rate of polystyrene. The solution for increasing the growth rate of polystyrene lies in new technology. The reactive extrusion process of polystyrene was studied in detail and the whole reactive extrusion process of polystyrene was obtained. By means of controlling the flow rate of styrene and the initiator and the screw rotational speed, samples of polystyrene with different molecular weights were synthesized by the twin‐screw extruder. The properties of synthesized polystyrene with different molecular weights were studied; the mechanic properties of polystyrene will increase with an increase of the weight average molecular weight of polystyrene. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 2130–2135, 2002