Studies of polymerization of acrylic monomers using luminescence probes and differential scanning calorimetry

Abstract

Abstract A fiber optic system has been designed to couple calorimeter and fluorimeter equipment for in situ monitoring of polymerization reactions by both techniques simultaneously. Two acrylic monomers (cyclohexyl methacrylate, CHM, and 2‐ethylhexyl acrylate, EHA) were studied at different temperatures. Pyrene (Py) was employed at a low concentration (≤10 −4 mol/L) as a fluorescence probe. The emission spectrum of pyrene shows a broad band peaking at 390 nm, whose intensity grows with polymerization progress. A correlation with conversion degree could be established by collecting fluorescence intensity through the optical fiber at different polymerization times. For the more flexible polymer formed, poly(ethylhexyl acrylate) (PEHA), Py emission sharply increases only when high conversions are reached and continues increasing for a long time after the limiting conversion is attained. For CHM polymerizations, S‐shaped curves are found. Isochronal plots of intensity vs. scaled conversion allow elaboration of master curves for the peak emission. Data at 50°C for CHM cannot be fitted to the master curve, and this is explained in terms of vitrification.