EPR Study of Frontally Polymerized Acrylate Polymer Systems

POSTER

Abstract

Trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA), 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate (HDODA),and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA-n) were frontally polymerized and analyzed via electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. A comparison of radical concentration was performed for individual polymers and copolymers. Samples were mapped down the EPR tube to observe behavior of radicals down the polymerization front. During the frontal method, a large spike in intensity is observed at the point of initiation. Within a few centimeters, the signal diminishes into a steady state. As the concentration of TMPTMA was increased linearly in mixtures with TMPTA-n, an exponential growth of the radical concentration was observed. This exponential growth was not observed in the TMPTA-n-HDODA copolymer; increasing the HDODA concentration led to a linear growth of radical concentration. Frontal polymerization was also compared to bulk polymerization. The bulk method produced a larger number of radicals than the frontal method.

Authors

  • A. Thoma

    William Jewell College

  • A. Valencia

    William Jewell College

  • B. Baker

    William Jewell College

  • P. Bunton

    William Jewell College

  • J. Pojman

    Louisiana State University

  • Michael Turner

    Illinois Institute of Technology, Bettendorf High School, Bettendorf, IA, Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, Bettendorf, IA, Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA, Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Mikrostrukturphysik, Halle, Germany, CNRS, Universite Lyon I, France, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany, University of Jyvaskila, Finaland, Iowa State University/Ames Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University, Indiana University, Illinois State University, University of Iowa, Louisiana State University, University of Warwick, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Coe College, University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory, University of Illinois, Ames Laboratory, University of Florida, Tulane University, The Department of Physics and The James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, Department of Physics, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD 57197, Intense Laser Physics Theory Unit, Illinois State University, Argonne National Laboratory, Dr, Drake University, Physics Department, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Physics Department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA, Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA, NEST-CNR-INFM and Scuola Normale Superiore, I-56126 Pisa, Italy, University of New Hampshire Department of Physics, University of Chicago