Article

Facile synthesis of poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) by frontal free-radical polymerization

  1. Su Chen1,*,
  2. Ting Hu1,
  3. Yuan Tian1,
  4. Li Chen1,
  5. John A. Pojman2

Article first published online: 17 JAN 2007

DOI: 10.1002/pola.21865

Issue

Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry

Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry

Volume 45, Issue 5, pages 873–881, 1 March 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

Chen, S., Hu, T., Tian, Y., Chen, L. and Pojman, J. A. (2007), Facile synthesis of poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) by frontal free-radical polymerization. Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 45: 873–881. doi: 10.1002/pola.21865

Author Information

  1. 1

    Key Laboratory of Material-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Jiang Su Province and Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology, No. 5 Xin Mofan Rd., Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China

  2. 2

    Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Drive 5043, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406-0001

*Key Laboratory of Material-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Jiang Su Province and Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology, No. 5 Xin Mofan Rd., Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 17 JAN 2007
  2. Article first published online: 17 JAN 2007
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 27 OCT 2006
  4. Manuscript Received: 4 AUG 2006

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Keywords:

  • addition polymerization;
  • frontal polymerization;
  • hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA);
  • kinetics;
  • nonlinear polymers;
  • radical polymerization;
  • resins;
  • synthesis

Graphical Abstract

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The facile synthesis of poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) has been carried out by frontal free-radical polymerization with stable fronts. The experimental data are well fitted by straight lines, meaning that a constant-velocity, self-sustaining front was obtained. This is a strong evidence that pure frontal polymerization is occurring.

Abstract

We report the first synthesis of poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PHEA) without solvent by free-radical frontal polymerization (FP) at ambient pressure. In a typical run, the appropriate amounts of reactant (hydroxyethyl acrylate) and initiator (1,1-di(tert-butylperoxy)-3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexane) (Luperox 231) were mixed together at ambient pressure. FP was initiated by heating the wall of the tube with a soldering iron, and the resultant hot fronts were allowed to self-propagate throughout the reaction vessel. Once initiated, no further energy was required for polymerization to occur. To study the macrokinetics, we also produced PHEA frontally with ammonium persulfate as initiator and dimethyl sulfoxide as the solvent. The dependences of the front velocity and front temperature on the initiator concentration and reactant dilution were investigated. The front temperatures were between 124 and 157 °C, depending on the ammonium persulfate concentration. Thermogravimetric analysis indicates that PHEA prepared by FP with ammonium persulfate as initiator had higher thermal stability than solvent-free frontally prepared PHEA with Luperox 231 as initiator. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 873–881, 2007

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