Polymerization Kinetics of Methacrylic Groups in Organic-Inorganic hybrid Polymeric Thin Films

Abstract

In this paper, the polymerization kinetics of unsaturated double bonds (C=C) in TiO2- and ZrO2-doped hybrid polymeric thin films during UV irradiation and thermal curing is studied by monitoring the variation of C=C absorption band at 1630 cm-1 using FT-IR spectroscopic technique. Experimental results showed that polymerization of the unsaturated C=C groups in the TiO2- and ZrO2-doped hybrid polymers can be realized by either photo-irradiation or thermal treatment. The UV-induced polymerization process is much faster than thermal curing, but a full conversion of C=C groups into polyacrylate chains cannot be achieved without thermal treatment. The catalytic effect of TiO2 and ZrO2 on promoting the polymerization of C=C groups was observed, and the time of UV exposure and thermal curing for cross-linking C=C bonds was found to decrease with the increase of the concentration of TiO2 and ZrO2. The activation energy of the hybrid material containing varied concentration of TiO2 and ZrO2 was calculated, and the results indicated that TiO2 is more active than ZrO2 in promoting the polymerization of the unsaturated C=C bonds. Finally, the mechanisms for TiO2 and ZrO2 enhancing the material's photosensitivity (i.e. promoting polymerization of C=C bonds) have been proposed and discussed.