Frontal atom transfer radical polymerization of tri(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate

Abstract

The first frontal atom transfer radical polymerization (FATRP) has been successfully carried out using tri(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate as a monomer. The effect of the catalyst/initiator ratio has been investigated and related to the front velocity and its maximum temperature. By comparing this new approach with classical radical polymerization routes and with conventional frontal polymerization, it was found that the so-obtained polymer is characterized by higher conversion, shorter reaction times, higher degradation temperature, and does not contain entrapped bubbles.