Photo-controlled Growth of Telechelic Polymers and End-linked Polymer Gels

摘要

Photo-responsive polymeric networks (PRPNs) have broad applications as externally tunable smart materials. Typical photo-response behaviors include photo-motility, photo-degradation, photo-functionalization, photo-induced plasticity, and photo-induced self-healing. We reasoned that if appropriately designed photo-initiators were inserted within the chains of a polymer network, then subsequent photo-controlled radical polymerization (photo-CRP) in the presence of new monomer could offer a novel "photo-growth" mechanism for triggered alteration of network pore size and composition.