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The Development of Poly(ethene) andPoly(propene).
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The Development of Poly(ethene) and Poly(propene) Addition polymerisation involves the joining together of monomers; usually compounds containing C=C double bonds such as alkenes, to form saturated long-chain polymers1[LE1][LE2]: The reaction occurs when catalyst such as the Zeigler-Natta catalyst, used to make high-density poly(ethene), is present. Another type of poly(ethene), low-density poly(ethene) was Discovered in 1933 by Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson. In their experiment, the polymerisation was free radical polymerisation. This type of polymerisation has three stages. First is initiation, started off by an initiator molecule. Here, this is benzoyl peroxide[LE3]: This molecule splits into two initiator fragments, each having an unpaired electron, meaning that these molecules are free radicals2. These, combined with the oxygen that leaked into Fawcett and Gibson's experiment, provided the free radicals required to catalyse the mechanism. Electrons in The C=C double bond are easily attacked by the free radicals, forming a bond between the initiator fragment and one...
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