Journal article
Enhancing the Thermomechanical Properties of Photopolymer Networks Using Small-Molecular-Weight Hyperbranched Prepolymer Additives
Macromolecules, Vol.58(4), pp.1964-1974
02/25/2025
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02992
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
Photoiniferter RAFT polymerization was utilized to synthesize and functionalize small-molecular-weight hyperbranched prepolymers (HBPs). HBPs were incorporated in densely cross-linking photocurable systems to investigate the impact of their size and structure on resin and material properties. The incorporation of HBPs induced a significant reduction in viscosity, enhanced network homogeneity, and increased material toughness compared to linear prepolymer counterparts. When shrinkage stress was normalized using the Young’s modulus of the final network, lower shrinkage stresses were observed for HBP-modified systems, especially when functionalized with pendant acrylate groups. In comparison to commercial linear urethane diacrylate cross-linkers, the HBP-modified network showed significantly enhanced network homogeneity and mechanical toughness. This study demonstrates that HBPs enable access to reduced resin viscosity and shrinkage stress as well as enhanced network homogeneity compared to conventional linear oligomer additives in densely cross-linked photocurable systems.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Enhancing the Thermomechanical Properties of Photopolymer Networks Using Small-Molecular-Weight Hyperbranched Prepolymer Additives
- Creators
- Luis L. Jessen - University of IowaTanner L. Grover - University of IowaNicholas V. Oberbroeckling - University of IowaRobin WillemseC. Allan Guymon - Brigham Young University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Macromolecules, Vol.58(4), pp.1964-1974
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society
- DOI
- 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02992
- ISSN
- 0024-9297
- eISSN
- 1520-5835
- Grant note
- Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Fundamentals and Applications of PhotopolymerizationIndustry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Fundamentals and Applications of Photopolymerization
We kindly thank Dr. Rion Wendland and Dr. Kristan Worthington at the University of Iowa for their support in shrinkage stress measurements. Financial support for this work was provided by the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Fundamentals and Applications of Photopolymerization.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 02/09/2025
- Date published
- 02/25/2025
- Academic Unit
- Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984787444102771
Metrics
5 Record Views