A Mechanistic Description of the Sensitized N-substituted Maleimide Initiated Photopolymerization of an Acrylate Monomer

N-substituted maleimides have been investigated for their use as photoinitiators for free-radical polymerization. The mechanism of initiation in the presence of sensitizers and coinitiators is postulated to involve chemical and energy transfer sensitization processes. Photo-DSC and laser-flash photolysis results provide photophysical data supporting the proposed mechanisms