re: Plant workers: Educate me on plastic polymerization

The polymerization usually occurs by one of two ways: radical polymerization or a Ziegler-Natta catalyst. Radical polymerization is pretty widely used and is usually initiated with a radical peroxide, and a chain reaction occurs. However, there are energetic barriers to this reaction which can be overcome by heat and pressure. Ziegler-Natta catalysts are metal based and form a much more complicated reaction, but can have better conversion rates. In radical polymerization, the initiator isn’t a true catalyst. It just initiates the chain reaction.

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