Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.80, No.3, 432-437, 2001
Synthesis of monodisperse poly(butyl acrylate) initiated by SmMe(C5Me5)(2)(THF) and its adhesive properties after crosslinking by electron-beam irradiation
Polymerization reactions of butyl acrylate (BuA) were carried out using an organosamarium complex, SmMe(C5Me5)(2)(THF), as an initiator. Polymerization proceeds quantitatively to give high number-average molecular mass polymers (M-n > 200,000) and narrow molecular weight distributions (M-w/M-n < 1.07). Irradiation of the resulting poly(BuA) with an electron beam (EB) gave crosslinked poly(BuA). Improved viscoelastic and adhesive properties of these polymers were useful for high-temperature applications.