Novel polymeric photoinitiators with side-chain benzophenone: Facile synthesis and photopolymerization properties without coinitiator

A novel polymeric photoinitiator, poly(glycidyl benzophenone ether) (PGBE), with a side-chain benzophenone (BP) group was synthesized from poly(epichlorohydrin) and 4-hydroxybenzophenone. The structure of PGBE was characterized by IR and 1H NMR. The light absorption of PGBE was detected by UV spectrophotometer with the maximum absorption wavelength at 283 nm in acetonitrile solvent, which were red-shifted compared with BP. The obvious advantage of this initiator was the elimination of amine based hydrogen donors and to provide alternative hydrogen donors with easy availability and non-toxicity. The photopolymerizations of tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA) and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) initiated by PGBE and BP/EDAB were studied by real-time FT-IR. The polymeric initiator was found to have higher efficiency than BP/EDAB.