The autowave regimes of cryopolymerization

The autowave cryopolymerization of various monomers in the crystalline and glassy state can be initiated at a temperature in the range from 4.2 to 77 K by local brittle fracture in the samples preliminarily radiolyzed at the same temperature. The chemical reaction, initiated by microfracture in the solid sample, leads to development of the further fracture process as a result of the temperature and density gradients arising in the course of the reaction. This factor, in turn, stimulates the reaction. Thus, a kind of the mechanoenergetic feedback chain is realized in the system studied. The main results of investigations of the autowave cryopolymerization processes are illustrated by data on the homopolymerization of acetaldehyde and cyclopentadiene and the copolymerization of acetaldehyde with hydrogen cyanide. The concept of the self-organized autowave process can be used to explain the cold chemical evolution of matter in the Universe.