Synthesis of polyacrylate networks by ATRP: Parameters influencing experimental gel points

Series of poly(M-co-X) cross-linked polymers were synthesized by atom transfer radical copolymerization (ATRcP) of different acrylate monomers (M) and diacrylate cross-linkers (X). The variation of experimental gel points based on monomer and/or cross-linker conversions was systematically studied by changing three parameters: monomer concentration, structure of cross-linkers, and structure of monomers. Under constant molar ratios of reagents, decreasing monomer concentration significantly increased the intramolecular cyclization reactions and delayed the Occurrence of macroscopic gelation. Three types of acrylate monomers and five types of diacrylate cross-linkers with different structures were used for the copolymerization to explore the structural effect of monomers and cross-linkers on the experimental gel points. The results indicated that the experimental gel points based on conversions and the gel structural compactness did not change significantly by varying the monomer and/or cross-linker species within the scale of our investigation.