Effect of photosensitive groups on the photoefficiency of polymeric photoinitiators

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of photosensitive groups contained in the main chain of polymeric photoinitiator on photopolymerization. Through polycondensation of toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI), different diamines and N-phenyldiethanolamine (PDEA), three novel polymeric photoinitiators containing in-chain benzophenone (BP) and coinitiator amine were synthesized in comparison with the corresponding side-chain ones. FT-IR, 1H NMR and GPC analyses confirm the structures of all polymers. UV-Vis spectra showed that the maximal absorption and the molar extinction coefficient of polymeric photoinitiator can be greatly improved by the electron donating groups and the imino nitrogen that directly link to BP structure. The photopolymerization of trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) and PU prepolymer, initiated by these polymeric photoinitiators, was studied by photo-DSC. The results indicate that the location of photosensitive group has an important effect on the photoefficiency of polymeric photoinitiators. The efficiency order of polymeric photoinitiators comprising in-chain BP is different from that of the side-chain ones: PUIBA-s and PUIBA-n are the most efficient for TMPTA and PU prepolymer, respectively.