Raman spectroscopic study of gamma radiation‐initiated polymerization of diethylene glycol dimethacrylate in different solvents

Abstract

In this work, the degree of conversion and polymerization kinetics of diethylene glycol dimethacrylate (DEGDMA) monomer in different solvents upon gamma irradiation with different doses have been studied by Raman spectroscopy and mass difference measurements. Density functional theory calculations were performed on the monomer and the crosslinked structure to obtain the assignment of Raman peaks to specific bonds. The evolution of the bonding configuration of the structure with dose and the composition of the monomer mixture was investigated. The dependence of the polymerization rate on the solvent type was explained by the mechanism of the polymerization affected by the relative solubility of the components of the monomer mixture. Raman measurements revealed also that there are not fully crosslinked monomer molecules in the polymer matrix.

Nanogold-capped poly(DEGDMA) microparticles as surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates for DNA detection

“…The high-energy radiation has a large penetration depth into the monomer mixture, allowing one to obtain porous (or bulk) polymers of large sizes and volumes, even directly in containers of specific material and purpose-such as the in situ preparation of steel HPLC columns filled with porous polymer monoliths [32]. The shape, size and size distribution of particulate/porous polymers produced by this method can be controlled by the composition of the monomer mixture, irradiation dose, dose rate, and even the time of reaction, while the wide variety of potential monomers allows one to fabricate structures with specific surface properties [30,32,33].…”