Optical control of microphase separation of the photopolymerized composition based on oligo(ester acrylates) for the preparation of polymer materials with the nonuniform nanopore distribution

Abstract

The possibility of control of microphase separation in the photocured composition bulk with the non-polymerizable component (NC) soluble in the monomer and restrictedly compatible with the polymer was studied for manufacturing polymer materials with the spatially nonuniform nanopore distribution. It is shown by numerical simulation that NC redistribution occurs under the action of radiation with the nonuniform over the surface area intensity distribution in the initial step of photopolymerization when the composition is single-phase. Microphase separation of the composition occurs during polymerization in the regions with an enhanced content of an additive, whereas the composition remains single-phase in the regions with a decreased concentration of NC. After NC removal from the final polymer, a material is obtained in which regions with nanopores and regions of the uniform polymer would coexist. The dependences of the size of these regions on the initial concentration of the neutral component in the composition, diffusion parameters of the polymerized medium, and parameters of actinic radiation were studied. The conclusions of numerical simulation were checked experimentally.