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The Influence of RAFT on the Microstructure and the Mechanical Properties of Photopolymerized Poly(butyl acrylate) Networks
Author(s) -
Henkel Rouven,
Vana Philipp
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201300581
Subject(s) - raft , acrylate , polymer chemistry , swelling , molar mass , polymer , gel point , materials science , chemical engineering , chemistry , copolymer , composite material , engineering
Statistical networks of butyl acrylate and 1,4‐butanediol diacrylate are photopolymerized in bulk, both in the presence and absence of the RAFT agent EPHT. The amounts of crosslinker and RAFT agent are varied. The Young's moduli of the RAFT networks are always lower than those of conventionally obtained networks. With increasing amounts of RAFT agent, the Young's modulus decreases and the strain at break values increase, respectively. The network density, the apparent molar mass of the network chains and the swelling show significant differences between RAFT‐ and conventionally obtained networks. The degree of swelling and the amount of extractable polymer increase largely with the amount of RAFT agent. Kinetic DSC measurements show that the gel point is delayed with increasing amounts of RAFT agent. In addition, a rate retardation effect with increasing RAFT agent concentration is observed.