Synthesis, Curing and Characterization of Bioinspired Polymers based on Vinyl Benzyl Thymine andTriethyl Ammonium Chloride

A. BARBARINI; D. A. ESTENOZ; D.M. MARTINO

MACROMOLECULAR REACTION ENGINEERING

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

Año: 2010 vol. 4 p. 453 - 459

1862-832X

<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> A novel class of environmentally benign, non-toxic and recyclable materials, based on vinylbenzyl thymine (VBT) and an ionically-charged vinylbenzyl triethylammonium chloride (VBA) monomers has been studied. Several syntheses of VBT-VBA copolymers varying the comonomer ratio and the initiator concentrations were carried out at 65 C using isopropanol as solvent. Samples were taken along the reactions to determine monomer conversion, chemical composition, and molecular weight distribution. The comonomers exhibited similar reactivities and random copolymers with similar chemical compositions were obtained. The curing process involved the irradiation of the copolymer films with a short wavelength UV (254 nm) for different times leading to film immobilization on the substrate. The light-induced crosslinking reaction was followed by UV-vis spectroscopy and the immobilization point related to the gel point was determined. The kinetics of the crosslinking process pointed to be a second order process with respect to the thymine concentration. The experimental results provide complementary information on photo-induced immobilization of VBT-VBA films that are crucial for developing new classes of environmentally benign materials and new energy-saving methods.