Apparatus and methods for controlled radical polymerization

1. A method of conducting controlled radical polymerization, comprising:

(a) Charging a vessel with a mixture of:

At least one monomer;

At least one solvent for said monomer;

At least one compound capable of coordinating with a metal; and

At least one initiator;

(b) Directing said mixture at a flow rate over a solid catalyst surface contained in a catalyst chamber external to the vessel, said catalyst surface comprising a metal or metal compound capable of at least two oxidation states;

(c) Monitoring the temperature of said vessel within a selected temperature range;

(d) Adjusting said flow rate when the temperature is outside said selected temperature range; and

(e) Allowing said polymerization to proceed until a desired conversion level is reached.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising repeating steps (b) though (d) until the desired conversion level is reached.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring a conversion level of the reaction mixture with an analytical instrument.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises one selected from the group consisting of: Cu(0); Cu 2 S; Cu 2 Te; Cu 2 Se; Mn; Ni; Pt; Fe; Ru; V; and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the addition of at least one copper (I) compound to accelerate the polymerization.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst surface further comprises copper metal or copper metal alloy.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst is in the form of: a wire, a mesh, a screen, a shaving, a powder, a gauze, a sinter, a sliver, a tubing, a crystal, or combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlled radical polymerization comprises a single electron transfer living polymerization.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlled radical polymerization comprises an atom transfer radical polymerization.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conversion level is measured with spectroscopic analysis.

11. The method of claim 1 , further wherein the method is performed in the substantial absence of oxygen.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising purging the reaction vessel with a non-reactive gas.

13. The method of claim 1 , comprising further reacting the resultant polymer to form at least one functional end group onto said polymer.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of adding a sequential monomer differing from the monomer initially charged in the vessel, and reiterating steps (b) through (d) until a desired conversion level is reached.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a polymer product having a monomodal distribution of polymer molecular weights.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a polymer product having a polydispersity from about 1.01 to about 2.

17. A method of conducting controlled radical polymerization, comprising:

(a) charging a vessel with a mixture of:

At least one monomer;

At least one solvent for said monomer;

At least one compound capable of coordinating with a metal; and

At least one initiator;

(b) directing said mixture at a flow rate through at least one catalytic converter chamber external to the vessel, said catalytic converter chamber being separated from said vessel by at least one heat exchanger unit, and over a catalytic converter surface, said catalytic converter surface comprising a metal or metal compound capable of at least two oxidation states;

(c) monitoring the temperature of said vessel within a selected temperature range; and

(d) maintaining the temperature of the mixture by adjusting said flow rate through the catalytic chambers and heat exchanger units when the temperature is outside said selected temperature range.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising directing said reaction mixture through a series of catalytic converter chambers external to said reaction vessel.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising directing said reaction mixture through a plurality of heat exchanger units placed in between two or more catalytic converters.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising directing said reaction mixture through a series of alternating heat exchanger units and catalytic converter chambers.

21. The method of claim 17 , further comprising measuring a conversion level with an analytical instrument.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the analytical instrument is selected from the group consisting of: a spectroscopy device, a chromatography instrument, nuclear magnetic resonance instrument, a mass spectronomer instrument, and combinations thereof.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the analytical instrument is a fourier transform infrared spectronomer.

24. The method of claim 1 , further comprising between the steps (b) and (c) determining when a desired level of catalyst is solubilized into said reaction mixture, and subsequently incorporating at least one initiator into the reaction mixture.