Visible Light Induced Cationic Polymerization of Epoxides by Using Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Marco Sangermano; Damian Rodriguez; Monica C Gonzalez; Enzo Laurenti; Yusuf Yagci

doi:10.1002/marc.201800250

Visible Light Induced Cationic Polymerization of Epoxides by Using Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Macromol Rapid Commun. 2018 Jul;39(13):e1800250. doi: 10.1002/marc.201800250. Epub 2018 May 27.

Authors

Marco Sangermano¹, Damian Rodriguez², Monica C Gonzalez², Enzo Laurenti³, Yusuf Yagci⁴

Affiliations

¹ Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Torino, Italy.
² Departamento de Quimica INIFTA, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 7, 776, La Plata, Argentina.
³ Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125, Torino, Italy.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul, 34469, Turkey.

PMID: 29806180
DOI: 10.1002/marc.201800250

Abstract

The visible light induced cationic polymerization of epoxides can be achieved by means of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which act as visible light photoinitiators via a radical-induced cationic photopolymerization process. When MWCNTs are irradiated with longer wavelengths (above 400 nm), they generate carbon radicals, by means of hydrogen abstraction from the epoxy monomer; these radicals are oxidized in the presence of iodonium salt to a carbocation that is sufficiently reactive to start the cationic ring-opening polymerization of an epoxy monomer. These mechanisms have been supported by electron paramagnetic resonance analysis.

Keywords: MWCNTs; epoxy monomers; visible light cationic photopolymerization.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Light*
Nanotubes, Carbon / chemistry*
Photochemical Processes*

Substances

Nanotubes, Carbon