Premium
Photoinitiation of vinyl polymerization by polysilanes
Author(s) -
Wolff Andrew R,
West Robert
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
applied organometallic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1099-0739
pISSN - 0268-2605
DOI - 10.1002/aoc.590010103
Subject(s) - polysilane , polymerization , chemistry , polymer chemistry , ethyl acrylate , styrene , methacrylate , polymer , monomer , acrylate , methyl methacrylate , photochemistry , copolymer , organic chemistry
Polysilanes were found to photoinitiate the polymerization of a variety of vinyl monomers including methyl methacrylate, styrene, ethyl acrylate and acrylic acid. Polymerization initiated by polysilane photolysis is rather insensitive to oxygen inhibition, which may make it especially suitable for polymerization of thin films. The initiation efficiency of poly(phenylmethylsilylene) in styrene was determined from dilatometry data to be 1 × 10 −3 . This rather low efficiency is counterbalanced by the very high extinction coefficient of polysilane polymers, ca. 4–8 × 10 3 per silicon atom. Possible reasons for the low initiation efficiency and reduced oxygen inhibition of polysilane photoinitiators are discussed.