The crosslinking efficiency and kinetics of a solid acrylic copolymer DCPA/EA (dicyclopentenyl acrylate/ethyl acrylate) matrix were investigated in the presence of pentaerythritol tetrakis (2‐mercaptoacetate) (PETMP) or pentaerythritol tri‐ and tetraacrylates used as multifunctional crosslinking agents. The reaction of thiol and acrylate addition was sensitized by benzophenone (BP). The crosslinking efficiency of the DCPA/EA—BP—PETMP copolymer system, illuminated at high wavelengths (λ > 310 nm), was compared with that of the DCPA/EA matrix alone and the 2‐component system copolymer DCPA/EA–BP. The concentrations of photosensitizer and crosslinking agent were varied from 1 to 10 mass %. The kinetics of tetrafunctional thiol addition and cyclopentene (pendant group of the DCPA/EA matrix) disappearance was followed through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and by determining the gel content. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35: 2333–2345, 1997

L'efficacité de photoréticulation de toute une série de photoamorceurs commerciaux et de systèmes photosensibles multicomposants a été évaluée sur des matrices acryliques non réticulées. Les polymères utilisés pour cette étude sont des homopolymères et des copolymères d'acrylate de dicyclopentadiène/acrylate d'éthyle de composition variable (100/0, 40/60, 20/80, 0/100) synthétisés en solution par voie radicalaire. Les irradiations ont été effectuées à des grandes longueurs d'ondes (λ ≥ 310 nm). Les systèmes benzophénone/peroxyde de benzoyle ont permis d'obtenir des cinétiques de réticulation très rapides pour des temps d'irradation de 10 min.

Anti‐soiling coatings (ASC) for facades must ensure two major functions: substrate protection and decoration. They were investigated within the scope of polymer photochemistry in order to achieve surface crosslinking of the coating on illumination with artificial or natural light. This surface crosslinking, which is induced through admixture of a photosensitive system, permits ruling out the soiling of the coating, while remaining flexible enough to respond to the deformations of the substrates. The development of highly reactive photosensitive systems capable of crosslinking dicyclopentadienyl acrylate (DCPA)‐based acrylic polymer matrices (dissolved copolymers or latexes) led to test these systems on ASC formulations (dispersion paints). The various formulations were subjected to accelerated testing of the resistance to soiling, in order to investigate the efficiency of the different photosensitive systems.