Photo-triggered redox frontal polymerization: A new tool for synthesizing thermally sensitive materials

A novel approach of photo-triggered redox frontal polymerization (FP) by integrating photocaged superbase (QA-DBU) with a peroxide initiator (dibenzoyl peroxide, BPO) is presented for the synthesis of thermally sensitive materials. Under photo-irradiation at a localized region, the regenerated superbase can diffuse into unirradiated regions and effectively actuate redox FP in a diffusion-controlled manner. Moreover, the redox FP can be conducted at a much lower front temperature with enhanced front velocity. Astonishingly, the front temperature can be well-modulated by changing the concentration of latent superbase. The prepared thermally sensitive fluorescent polymer composites exhibit enhanced fluorescence emission intensity compared to that of conventional thermal FP. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51 , 4515–4521