A comparative investigation of the photoinitiation process in bulk and micelle polymerisation: Part I—Steady state experiments

Abstract

Benzophenone and a benzoin derivative were used to initiate under UV light excitation the polymerisation of acrylic and methacrylic monomers in bulk, in solution and in microheterogeneous medium. Rates of polymerisation, DP, polydispersity, quantum yields, effect of a magnetic field, and activation energies were determined. The results are discussed as a function of the chemical nature of the monomer and the initiator. A schematic picture for the initiation process of the photopolymerisation in micelle is proposed.