kjedevekstprosessen
The chain growth process, known in Norwegian as kjedevekstprosessen, is a fundamental mechanism in the synthesis of polymers. It describes a mode of polymerization where a growing macromolecular chain adds monomer units one at a time while a reactive centre migrates along the chain. Unlike step‑growth polymerization, chain‑growth reactions often require the presence of an initiator to generate the initial active species.
In radical chain‑growth polymerization, for example, an initiator such as a peroxide decomposes to produce free
Anionic and cationic polymerizations follow a similar sequence but involve nucleophilic or electrophilic initiators, respectively. In
Industrial applications of kjedevekstprosessen include the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyesters, where control over the