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 1 H 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.