Photopolymerization of Zeolite Filler‐Based Composites for Potential 3D Printing Application and Gas Adsorption Applications

Abstract

In recent years, photopolymerization has been found wide applications in industry and daily life, while many defective properties of polymers limit their development, including compressive strength, mechanical properties and functions. Furthermore, zeolites are microporous solids with many industrial applications.As fillers they can improve mechanical properties of zeolite/polymer composite and transfer their properties to composites. Here we reported the fabrication of composites with very high filler contents (80-95 wt%) under mild photopolymerization conditions (visible LED light irradiation, room temperature, under air). Compared to pure poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) polymer, mechanical properties have been greatly improved, and the storage modulus increased by nearly 20-fold compared to that of pure polymer. After debinding/sintering of composites by high temperature treatment, zeolite porosity is preserved with good adsorption capacities. Some step-like object with 3D structure was also obtained by an original 3D printing technique noted "layer by layer Molding/Curing". Hence, as a great breakthrough, this work is expected to lead to a valuable development in the field of photopolymerization in quite highly filled composites. This also will expand their potential applications for 3D printing in the fields of high-performance lightweight materials and adsorption, and opens the door to a new process of zeolite shaping.

Effect of Decarboxylation on the Photoinitiation Behavior of Nitrocarbazole-Based Oxime Esters

“…Today, LEDs are almost the primary choice to carry out photopolymerization experiments. Because of the narrow emission band, a considerable part of commercial photoinitiators (PIs) cannot be initiated effectively under near-UV or visible LEDs. − Increasing numbers of two- or three-component photoinitiating systems whose light absorption spectra can match with the emission of LEDs have been designed and developed, , while the electron transfer efficiency in multistep initiating processes and the viscous resins for photoinitiating systems are the drawbacks to face . Therefore, it is desirable to develop one-component Type I PIs that can generate free radicals directly through the cleavage of chemical bonds.…”

Binder effects in photopolymerized acrylate/zeolite composites for 3D printing/ion-exchange applications

“…In our previous work, we studied the photopolymerization kinetics and the depth of cure in zeolite/polymer system [24], the mechanical and functional properties (ca. gas adsorption) of composites (zeolite maximum content ~95 wt%) [25,26].…”

Filling Aggregation-Induced Extinction Mechanism in Near-Infrared Photopolymerization for Gradient and Highly Filled Bulk Materials

“…However, composite fillers often absorb, refract, or scatter incident light, leading to the increase in the light-attenuation gradient. , Such extinction behaviors, especially in the case of a high filler content, intensively weaken the light penetration through the entire polymerizable medium and inhibits photopolymerization; these eventually lead to the deterioration of material performances, and therefore photopolymerization of highly filled systems remains a profound challenge . In parallel, numerous studies have reported a growing interest in composites photopolymerization with a high filler content, including fabrication of high-performance or functional materials. ,− …”