×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Expanding Photopolymer

Expanding Photopolymer

Expanding Photopolymer

(OP)
Hello everyone,

I have already asked a couple of polymer experts about this and I didn't get an answer, but I have found time and again that if no one can help you, Eng Tips is the way to go :D

Anyway, I am in need of a UV curing photopolymer that expands during polymerization. Now ideally, I would like it to cure in near-UV wavelengths and double its volume. I know masterbond has some products that cure in 405 nm instead of the classic 365 but I am not aware of any polymer that expands during polymerization. However, it is also ok if the expansion is the product of bubble formation due to the release of a gas during polymerization.

Has anyone heard of anything similar to this?

Thanks in advance,

George

RE: Expanding Photopolymer

Henkel is big into UV cure adhesives. They might be worth a look.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

RE: Expanding Photopolymer

Almost all monomers contract when polymerized. The exception is cyclic monomers which expand but slightly. Nowhere near a doubling. To expand by that much you will have to combine it with some other additive to boost the expansion.

Dr. Chris DeArmitt - FRSC

www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdearmitt/

RE: Expanding Photopolymer

(OP)
Thank you for your replies!

Demon3, I was thinking about doing something like that. My thought was to mix some silver nitrate or some other substance that reacts when exposed to light and use it to create tiny bubbles in the polymer. Are you talking about something like that or did you have some other additive in mind?

Best,

George

RE: Expanding Photopolymer

I had Expancel expandable microspheres in mind. They expand a lot when heated. Other options exist as you point out.

Dr. Chris DeArmitt - FRSC

www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdearmitt/

RE: Expanding Photopolymer

Gkan,

Did you had any luck with the experiment?

RE: Expanding Photopolymer

(OP)
Hi,

No, I am afraid it didn't work. I did not try expancel microspheres as the temperatures were too high for my setup.

Best,

George

RE: Expanding Photopolymer

Gkan,
Dr.Demon is right about the contraction.
Be ware of the UV if it need to pass a layer of medium like glass or transparent plastics. The UV curing effect can drop a lot. We thought about similar stuff before but was not lucky . That was several years ago though as things may change. There was a Germany company (masterbond?) making various types UV curable plastics and will help R&D.
Best,

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources