Abstract
Photo-induced free radical polymerization of N-substituted malemides (MI) with vinyl ethers has been extensively studied in the past few years. These UV curable systems have the advantage of undergoing rapid polymerization without addition of any external photoinitiator (PI). The mechanism of initiation in the case of MI/vinyl ether system involves an electron transfer followed by a proton transfer, and it was found that the rate of polymerization and degree of conversion are highly dependent on presence of labile hydrogens. In this present study, polymerization of photoinitiator free donor/acceptor pair has been extended to the synthesis of polymers which function as hydrogels for controlled-release studies. Hydroxy pentyl malemide (HPMI) and N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) were chosen as acceptor and donor respectively due to their water solubility. Glucose,l,l-diethoxy ethane (DEE) and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) were used as hydrogen donors. Polymerization exotherms and swelling behavior indicate that the NVP/HPMI/glucose system exhibits the highest polymerization rate with high swelling ability. Laser flash photolysis experiments were carried out to elucidate the photoinitiation mechanism.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | Polymer Preprints |
| Publication status | Published - 2003 |
Keywords
- controlled release technology
- hydrogels
- polymerization
- polymers
- synthesis
- vinyl ethers