Premium
Thermally Reversible Diels–Alder Bond‐Containing Acrylate Networks Showing Improved Lifetime
Author(s) -
Maassen Eveline E. L.,
Anastasio Rosaria,
Breemen Lambèrt C. A.,
Sijbesma Rint P.,
Heuts Johan P. A.
Publication year - 2020
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.202000208
Subject(s) - photopolymer , acrylate , materials science , monomer , polymer chemistry , yield (engineering) , polymer , acrylate polymer , diels–alder reaction , ultimate tensile strength , photochemistry , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis
Photopolymerization of (meth)acrylates into highly crosslinked networks is in general accompanied by volumetric shrinkage, often leading to premature material failure. In this work, thermoreversible Diels–Alder groups are investigated to explore their effect on material lifetime. A difunctional acrylic monomer containing Diels–Alder moieties is synthesized and successfully incorporated in a polymer network by photopolymerization. It is demonstrated that upon heating above 150 °C, the Diels–Alder bonds open, yielding topological rearrangements of the network. The mechanical properties of the material after opening of the Diels–Alder moieties are investigated by tensile testing, showing a high strain‐rate dependence of the yield stress which is indicative of a longer lifetime at the higher strain rates that are prevalent in load‐bearing applications.