Physical and mechanical properties of photopolymerized thiol-ene/acrylates

The structural and mechanical property development that occurs for the polymerization of thiol-ene/acrylate systems are discussed. Thiol-ene polymerizations proceeds with very little oxygen inhibition, with the oxygen incorporation into the matrix structure having a trivial effect on the final mechanical/physical properties. The photopolymerization of ternary systems involving mixtures of a thiol, and an acrylate that can participate in both copolymerization and homopolymerization leads to network formation by a complicated kinetic process. Kinetic analysis were conducted with real-time FTIR to confirm high conversions of thiol-ene and acrylate monomers. Thiol-ene/acrylate mixture can be photopolymerized to give cross-linked films with relatively narrow transitions. Analysis of photopolymerized thiol-ene/acrylate systems indicates narrow mechanical/thermal transition region. The ternary systems are characterized by a phase-separated nanoscopic morphology.