Photochemistry and photopolymerization activity of p-nitroaniline in the presence of N,N-dimethylaniline as a bimolecular photoinitiator system

The photoreduction behavior of p-nitroaniline (pNA) in the presence of N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) induced by both steady-state (365 nm) and laser (337 nm) irradiation has been analyzed. The stoichiometry of the photoreduction reaction revealed that several amino radicals derived from DMA were generated by each photoreduced pNA molecule. The polymerization kinetics of the lauryl acrylate monomer (LA) photoinitiated by the pNA/DMA system has been studied by differential scanning photocalorimetry (Photo-DSC). The rate of polymerization was found to be proportional to the square root of both the incident light and the coinitiator DMA concentration. The order of the polymerization reaction with respect to monomer and initiator concentration was determined, as well as the polymerization behavior under aerobic conditions. The polymerization efficiency of this photoinitiated system was much higher than that obtained with conventional aromatic ketone photoinitiators. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35: 3801–3812, 1997