autopolymerisation

Noun

autopolymerisation (countable and uncountable, plural autopolymerisations)

1. A chemical reaction in which a monomer undergoes polymerisation spontaneously, often due to environmental factors such as heat, light, or inherent instability.
   • The fats remain, to be altered by heat and pressured into hydrocarbons, whose boiling points lie below 300°; and these later undergo a partial autopolymerization into denser forms.1908, Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, The Data of Geochemistry (United States Geological Survey: Series E, Chemistry and Physics, 54; Bulletin No. 330), U.S. Government Printing Office, page 634
   • The products of autopolymerisation may be present.1926, Schachno Peisach Schotz, Synthetic Rubber, New York: Van Nostrand Company, page 86
2. The process by which an autopolymer hardens.