Frontal polymerization (FP) has been used as an alternative technique for the preparation of poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) hydrogels. Samples were synthesized in bulk, water, or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and the obtained materials were characterized and compared in terms of their yield, swelling behavior, thermal properties, and morphology. It was found that their features are dependent on the presence and type of the solvent used. Samples prepared in bulk are characterized by the lowest yields and the highest front temperatures (T max ) and velocities (V f ), whereas those synthesized in water have the highest yields and the lowest values of T max and V f . No significant differences have been found in terms of T g among the three series of samples. By contrast, the reaction conditions influenced the porous morphology of the samples and, consequently, their swelling capability in water. The swelling ratio ranges from about 670-700% for some samples prepared in water up to 3500% for a sample obtained in DMSO, thus indicating that this parameter can be properly tuned by using the most suitable FP conditions.

Frontal polymerization (FP) has been successfully applied, for the first time, to obtain polymeric nanocomposites containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) in an amine‐cured epoxy matrix. Variations of maximum temperature (Tmax) and front velocity (Vf) have been studied. A comparison of these products with the corresponding materials, obtained by the classical batch polymerization technique, demonstrated that FP allows a higher degree of conversion than batch polymerization. The products have been characterized in terms of their thermal behavior with DSC analysis. SEM and X‐ray analyses revealed the morphology and the structures of the nanocomposites. The nanocomposites obtained by FP have the same characteristics of those synthesized, in much longer times, by batch polymerization. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 4514–4521, 2007

Frontal polymerization, a method that allows to convert a monomer into a polymer exploiting the exothermicity of the self-same polymerization reaction, has been conveniently used for the easy and fast preparation of epoxy resin-montmorillonite nanocomposites. The obtained materials have shown characteristics similar or even better than those prepared by the conventional polymerization routes. The synthetic methods and the thorough characterization of the obtained nanocomposites are described.