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P. Knaack, A.D. Tran, N. Klikovits, R. Liska:
"Frontal polymerization";
Poster: 5th European Symposium of Photopolymer Science, Mulhouse, France; 03.09.2018 - 06.09.2018; in: "5th European Symposium of Photopolymer Science", 5th European Symposium of Photopolymer Science, (2018), S. P17.

Frontal polymerization is a phenomenon that was characterised by Pojman in 20121 as polymerization process in which polymerization occurs directionally in a localized reaction zone. A lot of research effort was put into that topic since that time to bring frontal polymerization from an academic curiosity to industrial demanded applications.
Since the bubble free performing of a radical induced cationic frontal polymerization (RICFP) of epoxides could be realized in our working group in 20152-4, this system was used as a basis to develop a broad spectrum of advanced applications for this technique. This basic RICFP systems consists of a radical thermal initiator (RTI) and a photoacid generator (PAG) dissolved in resin (e.g. bisphenol A diglycidylether). The frontal polymerization utilizes now the liberated heat of the exothermic polymerization reaction after the initiation (via light or heat) to cleave the RTI in the adjacent area of the formulation. This starts an initiation cascade, which leads again to exothermic polymerization. With this, a self-sustaining reaction front is formed that moves through the whole formulation.
Since this process is dependent on the liberated reaction heat, a high degree of control over the reactivity of the system is needed when filler materials and fabrics shall be included in the formulations since these materials alter the heat dissipation properties of the formulation significantly. Here the latest results of our research shall be presented. Insight shall be given how with small changes in concentration and / or nature of the initiators or monomers the needs for different filler materials and curing situations (e.g. thin layers) can be met.

Frontal polymerization, radical induced cationic frontal polymerization, broad spectrum of advanced applications for this technique