Fig.1 (a) Schematic diagram of flow synthesis setup (M1, M2 and M3 are tees for micromixers; C1 and C2 are curved tubes for achieving the pre-set temperature; R1 is the microtube reactor); (b) Effect of the reaction system composition on DP[F(IB+IP) + F(CH2Cl2) = 8 ml/min, F(initiator) = 8 ml/min][57]

Fig.2 Possible routes of species transformation in the initiation system and the mechanism dominating chain termination[57]

Fig.3 Proposed mechanism for isobutylene polymerization with H2O/AlCl3 initiation system[58]

Fig.4 Suggested mechanism of polymerization of IB co-initiated by AlCl3×iPr2O[61]

Fig.5 Evolution routes of AlCl3-involved interactions during the preparation of initiator solutions containing AlCl3 and ether[73]

Fig.6 (a) Schematic of various preparation methods of initiation solution; (b) Proposed mechanism of cationic polymerization of IB utilizing dual ethers[74]

Fig.7 Proposed mechanism for a two-stage effect of DMP[86]

Fig.8 (a) Microsystem for polymerization（M1, M2—micromixers; R1—microtube reactor）[38]; (b) Plots of molecular weight (Mn) against monomer/initiator ratio in cationic polymerization of NBVE initiated by an N-acyliminium ion pool using a microflow system[39]

Fig.9 MWD curves for poly (IBVE) obtained in a batch reactor or a microflow system[40]

Fig.10 Proposed mechanisms of cationic polymerization of IBVE under different mixing conditions[40]

Fig.11 (a) Binding energies and optimized structure of FeCl3·Nu calculated by Gaussian 09w[B3LYP/6-311G(++,d,p)]; (b) Proposed mechanisms of living cationic polymerization of IBVE under dual and single nucleophiles conditions[88]

Fig.12 Schematic diagram of the microflow system based on the T-shaped micromixer for block copolymerization [M1 and M2: T-shape micromixer (250 mm). R1 and R2: microtube reactor (R1: Φ=500 μm, length=50 cm; R2: Φ=500 μm, length=50 cm)][39]

Fig.13 Temperature dependence of the transmittance at 500 nm of a 1.0%(mass) aqueous solution of poly(IBVE x -co-HBVE1-x )200 (DP n about 200): (a) prepared in a microflow system(Mw/Mn = 1.10); (b) prepared in a batch reactor(Mw/Mn = 1.41—1.57)[74]

Fig.14 (a) The radius variation of the poly(IBVE5-co-HBVE195) in 1.0%(mass) aqueous solutions; (b) Relationships between Tps in water and the composition of copolymers (IBVE x -co-HBVE1-x )200 (DP n about 200, Mw/Mn = 1.10)[74]

Fig.15 Plot of tdecay as a function of tact (a) and plots of lntact or lntdecay as a function of the dissociation energy (b) in the IBVE polymerization reactions initiated by the SnCl4/X (X = EA, DO, EP, Et2O or DOL) system[78]