In-situ swelling of pH-responsive microgel particles during photopolymerization to mitigate shrinkage stress of UV-cured materials

Abstract

This paper utilizes a soap-free emulsion polymerization process to prepare microgel particles that can swell in response to in-situ generated acid in photocurable resin. By controlling the type and concentration of end-capping agents and the content of cross-linking agents, pH-responsive microgel particles with significantly increased particle size in acidic environments are synthesized. The strong protonic acid generated by the photoacid upon exposure to ultraviolet light can reduce the pH of the UV-curable resin, leading to an enlargement of the particle size. This can compensate for the volume shrinkage of the resin, ultimately reducing shrinkage stress. The research findings indicate that the addition of 5 wt% of pH-responsive particless and 2 wt% of photoacid to the UV-curable resin results in a reduction of approximately 40% in shrinkage stress and shrinkage rate.