Due to long-term problems related to environmental protection, economic aspects, and waste management in the chemical industry, it is justified to develop renewable polymers as an alternative to synthetic polymers. Two kinds of acrylic bio-renewable components were used for the modification of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO). The bio-based compositions used as photocurable binders to obtain the photocurable coatings with satisfactory properties and high bio content were then prepared. The kinetic of curing reaction of the oligomers and monomers towards radical photopolymerization and the properties of the cured coatings were fully investigated; the results are discussed in relation with the compounds’ structures. Important information about how to design and obtain renewable photocurable coatings with satisfactory properties was provided in this study. In this study, AESO resin was modified with renewable oligomer or (math)acrylate monomer to increase the reactivity and reduce the viscosity of the photoreactive system in order to obtain renewable and viable alternatives to petroleum-based polymeric materials with perfect film-forming properties. It turned out that both photopolymerization rate and hardness of cured coatings were increased significantly with the addition of modifiers; the use of a thiol modifier and change of the photoinitiator concentration allowed to improve the adhesion, hardness, and control of the photo-curing process.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of chemical modifications of the structure of active compounds on the skin permeation and accumulation of ibuprofen [IBU] from the acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive used as a drug-in-adhesives matrix type transdermal patch. The active substances tested were ibuprofen salts obtained by pairing the ibuprofen anion with organic cations, such as amino acid isopropyl esters. The structural modification of ibuprofen tested were Ibuprofen sodium salt, [GlyOiPr][IBU], [AlaOiPr][IBU], [ValOiPr][IBU], [SerOiPr][IBU], [ThrOiPr][IBU], [(AspOiPr)₂][IBU], [LysOiPr][IBU], [LysOiPr][IBU]₂, [PheOiPr][IBU], and [ProOiPr][IBU]. For comparison, the penetration of unmodified ibuprofen and commercially available patches was also investigated. Thus, twelve transdermal patches with new drug modifications have been developed whose adhesive carrier is an acrylate copolymer. The obtained patches were characterized for their adhesive properties and tested for permeability of the active substance. Our results show that the obtained ibuprofen patches demonstrate similar permeability to commercial patches compared to those with structural modifications of ibuprofen. However, these modified patches show an increased drug permeability of 2.3 to even 6.4 times greater than unmodified ibuprofen. Increasing the permeability of the active substance and properties such as adhesion, cohesion, and tack make the obtained patches an excellent alternative to commercial patches containing ibuprofen.

The use of ultraviolet radiation (UV) technology for the crosslinking of acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) is the one of various crosslinking methods, being the alternative to the conventional crosslinking process of solvent-based acrylic systems. It also requires a photoinitiator to absorb the impinging UV and induce photocrosslinking. As previously mentioned, a photoinitiator is one of the important and necessary components in UV-inducted crosslinking of acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives. The activity of multifunctional conventional saturated photoinitiators of type I and type II, especially benzophenone-based in the photoreactive UV-crosslinkable acrylic PSA was described. The effect of the multifunctional type-II photoinitiators on the acrylic PSA, such as tack, peel adhesion and shear strength were summarized.

The popularity of using the photopolymerization reactions in various areas of science and technique is constantly gaining importance. Light-induced photopolymerization is the basic process for the production of various polymeric materials. The key role in the polymerization reaction is the photoinitiator. The huge demand for radical and cationic initiators results from the dynamic development of the medical sector, and the optoelectronic, paints, coatings, varnishes and adhesives industries. For this reason, we dealt with the subject of designing new, highly-efficient radical photoinitiators. This paper describes novel photoinitiating systems operating in UV-Vis light for radical polymerization of acrylates. The proposed photoinitiators are composed of squaraine (SQ) as a light absorber and various diphenyliodonium (Iod) salts as co-initiators. The kinetic parameters of radical polymerization of trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA), such as the degree of double bonds conversion (C_%), the rate of photopolymerization (R_p), as well as the photoinitiation index (I_p) were calculated. It was found that 2-aminobenzothiazole derivatives in the presence of iodonium salts effectively initiated the polymerization of TMPTA. The rates of polymerization were at about 2 × 10⁻² s⁻¹ and the degree of conversion of acrylate groups from 10% to 36% were observed. The values of the photoinitiating indexes for the most optimal initiator concentration, i.e., 5 × 10⁻³ M were in the range from 1 × 10⁻³ s⁻² even to above 9 × 10⁻³ s⁻². The photoinitiating efficiency of new radical initiators depends on the concentration and chemical structure of used photoinitiator. The role of squaraine-based photoinitiating systems as effective dyeing photoinitiators for radical polymerization is highlighted in this article.

The significant development of industry and the growing demand for renewable fuels lead to the accumulation of massive amounts of glycerol as a by-product. Scientists have been trying to use this product as a raw material for several years. One of its uses is in the acquirement of 1,3-propanediol (PDO). This work presents studies on the synthesis of two new urethane acrylate resins obtained from 1,3-propanediol and urethane acrylate oligomers containing isocyanate groups in each molecule. The method for obtaining the resins was presented, considering various conditions of synthesis, i.e., the structure of the carbon chain of the oligomer used, the molar ratio of the reactants, or the use of solvents. The reactions were monitored in real time by FTIR until the disappearance of the NCO groups. Then, polymer films were prepared from the obtained products and cured using UV radiation or thermally. The obtained coatings were tested in terms of the photopolymerization kinetics and properties of the cured coatings. Resultantly, the obtained bio-sourced coatings were observed to be characterized by good functional properties and a short curing duration, both with the use of UV radiation-based or thermal curing. These types of resins obtained using a bioproduct can be employed as eco-friendly film-forming products in the coating industry for many applications. In particular, due to their potential for dual curing methods (UV or thermal), these resins can be used on three-dimensional surfaces, i.e., those in which there is a possibility of the insufficient availability of UV radiation.