Abstract
The photoreactive prepolymers with multifunctional cinnamate and bisphenol Atype cinnamate groups that could perform photodimerization without photoinitiators were synthesized by the reaction of t-cinnamic acids (CAs) and epoxy resins. Their photocure reaction rates and the extent of reaction conversion were measured with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and these increased with the intensity of UVirradiation. The experimental data of these reaction rates showed the characteristics of nth-order kinetics reaction, and all kinetic constants of each photoreactive polymer with this equation were summarized. Although the GTR-1800-HCA and KWG1-EP-HCA with hydroxyl group substituted cinnamate showed lower reaction conversion rates and rate constant than GTR-1800-CA and KWG1-EP-CAwith an unsubstituted cinnamate group, GTR-1800-MCAand KWG1-EP-MCAwith methoxy group substituted cinnamate showed similar and higher reaction conversion rates than the former, respectively. These results were explained in terms of segmental mobility for photopolymerization by molecular interactions.