A new addition–fragmentation chain transfer (AFT) capable moiety was incorporated into a dimethacrylate monomer that participated readily in network formation by copolymerizing with multifunctional methacrylates or acrylates. The process of AFT occurred simultaneously with photopolymerization of the AFT monomer (AFM) and other (meth)acrylate monomers leading to polymer stress relaxation via network reconfiguration. At low loading levels of the AFM, a significant reduction in shrinkage stress, especially for acrylate monomers, was observed with nominal effects on conversion. At higher loading levels of the AFM, the photopolymerization reaction kinetics and final double bond conversion were significantly lowered along with a delay in the gel-point conversion. Electron paramagnetic resonance studies during polymerization revealed the presence of a distinct radical species that was present in proportional quantities to the AFM content in the system. The lifetime and the character of the persistent radicals were altered due to the presence of the distinctive radical, in turn affecting the polymerization kinetics. With polymerization conducted at higher irradiance, the differential conversion between the control resin and samples with moderate AFM content was minimal, especially for the methacrylate-based formulations.

Photopolymerizable semicrystalline thermoplastics resulting from thiol–ene polymerizations were formed via fast polymerizations and achieved excellent mechanical properties. These materials have been shown to produce materials desirable for additive manufacturing (3D printing), especially for recyclable printing and investment casting. However, while well-resolved prints were previously achieved with the thiol–ene thermoplastics, the remarkable elongation at break (ε_max) and toughness (T) attained in bulk were not realized for 3D printed components (ε_max,bulk ∼ 790%, T_bulk ∼ 102 MJ m⁻³vs. ε_max,print < 5%, T_print < 0.5 MJ m⁻³). In this work, small concentrations (5–10 mol%) of a crosslinker were added to the original thiol–ene resin composition without sacrificing crystallization potential to achieve semicrystalline, covalently crosslinked networks with enhanced mechanical properties. Improvements in ductility and overall toughness were observed for printed crosslinked structures, and substantial mechanical augmentation was further demonstrated with post-manufacture thermal conditioning of printed materials above the melting temperature (T_m). In some instances, this thermal conditioning to reset the crystalline component of the crosslinked prints yielded mechanical properties that were comparable or superior to its bulk counterpart (ε_max ∼ 790%, T ∼ 95 MJ m⁻³). These unique photopolymerizations and their corresponding monomer compositions exhibited concurrent polymerization and crystallization along with mechanical properties that were tunable by changes to the monomer composition, photopolymerization conditions, and post-polymerization conditioning. This is the first example of a 3D printed semicrystalline, crosslinked material with thermally tunable mechanical properties that are superior to many commercially-available resins.

Efficient photopolymerization of a potentially expandable monomer is of practical importance for a variety of polymeric applications demanding dimensional stability, particularly if the polymerization process is well controlled based on a detailed investigation of the reaction. In the current study, photoinitiated polymerization kinetics of 2-methylene-7-phenyl-1,4,6,9-tetraoxaspiro[4.4]nonane (MPN) either with cationic initiation alone or with combined cationic/free radical initiation was examined using real-time FT-IR. A proposed mechanism based on the simplified propagation steps of the cationic double ring-opening polymerization of MPN was confirmed by both computer modeling and NMR spectroscopic analysis of resulting polymers as well as the experimentally observed apparent activation energy. According to this mechanism, α-position attack is the predominant mode for the second ring opening during cationic polymerization of MPN. Further, cationic photopolymerization was performed along with a free radical co-initiator or with exposure to moisture to get an improved understanding of the complex cationic double ring-opening polymerization. As a result, free-radical-promoted cationic polymerization helps increase the polymerization rate of MPN while even a trace amount of moisture was found to significantly impact both the reaction kinetics and the polymerization course.