The use of LEDs as novel and efficient light sources for the photopolymerization of various monomers (acylate, epoxy), interpenetrating polymer networks and thiols–ene, leads to the development of novel photoinitiating systems adapted for the LED emission.

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Recent progress in the photoinitiators and monomers/oligomers of photopolymers for 3D printing is presented in the review.

International audienceThree copper complexes (E1, G1, and G2) with different ligands in combination with an iodonium salt (and optionally another additive) were used to generate radicals upon soft visible light exposure (e.g., polychromatic visible light from a halogen lamp, laser diodes at 405 and 457 nm, LEDs at 405 and 455 nm). This approach can be worthwhile and versatile to initiate free radical photopolymerization, ring-opening cationic photopolymerization, and the synthesis of interpenetrating polymer networks. The photochemical mechanisms for the production of initiating radicals are studied using cyclic voltammetry, electron spin resonance spin trapping, steady state photolysis, and laser flash photolysis techniques. The photoinitiation ability of the copper complexes based photoinitiating systems are evaluated using real-time Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. G1 and G2 are better than the well-known camphorquinone (CQ)-based systems (i.e., TMPTA conversion = 18%, 35%, 48%, and 39% with CQ/iodonium salt, CQ/amine, G1/iodonium salt, and G2/iodonium salt, respectively; halogen lamp exposure). Interestingly, some of these systems are also better than the well-known type I phosphine oxide photoinitiator (BAPO) clearly showing their high performance. These copper complexes can be used as highly efficient catalysts in photoredox catalysis

Commercial or clinical tissue adhesives are currently limited due to their weak bonding strength on wet biological tissue surface, low biological compatibility, and slow adhesion formation. Although catechol-modified hyaluronic acid (HA) adhesives are developed, they suffer from limitations: insufficient adhesiveness and overfast degradation, attributed to low substitution of catechol groups. In this study, we demonstrate a simple and efficient strategy to prepare mussel-inspired HA hydrogel adhesives with improved degree of substitution of catechol groups. Because of the significantly increased grafting ratio of catechol groups, dopamine-conjugated dialdehyde–HA (DAHA) hydrogels exhibit excellent tissue adhesion performance (i.e., adhesive strength of 90.0 ± 6.7 kPa), which are significantly higher than those found in dopamine-conjugated HA hydrogels (∼10 kPa), photo-cross-linkable HA hydrogels (∼13 kPa), or commercially available fibrin glues (2–40 kPa). At the same time, their maximum adhesion energy is 384.6 ± 26.0 J m–2, which also is 40–400-fold, 2–40-fold, and ∼8-fold higher than those of the mussel-based adhesive, cyanoacrylate, and fibrin glues, respectively. Moreover, the hydrogels can gel rapidly within 60 s and have a tunable degradation suitable for tissue regeneration. Together with their cytocompatibility and good cell adhesion, they are promising materials as new biological adhesives.

Seven naphthalimide derivatives (NDP1–NDP7) with different substituents have been designed as versatile photoinitiators (PIs), and some of them when combined with an iodonium salt (and optionally N-vinylcarbazole) or an amine (and optionally chlorotriazine) are expected to exhibit an enhanced efficiency to initiate the cationic polymerization of epoxides and the free radical polymerization of acrylates under different irradiation sources (i.e., the LED at 385, 395, 405, 455, or 470 nm or the polychromatic visible light from the halogen lamp). Remarkably, some studied naphthalimide derivative based photoinitiating systems (PIS) are even more efficient than the commercial type I photoinitiator bisacylphosphine oxide and the well-known camphorquinone-based systems for cationic or radical photopolymerization. A good efficiency upon a LED projector at 405 nm used in 3D printers is also found: a 3D object can be easily created through an additive process where the final object is constructed by coating down successive layers of material. As another example of their broad potential, a NDP compound enveloped in a cyclodextrin (CD) cavity, leads to a NDP–CD complex which appears as a very efficient water-soluble photoinitiator when combined with methyldiethanol amine to form a hydrogel. The high interest of the present photoinitiator (NDP2) is its very high reactivity, allowing synthesis in water upon LED irradiation as a green way for polymer synthesis.The structure/reactivity/efficiency relationships as well as the photochemical mechanisms associated with the generation of the active species (radicals or cations) are studied by different techniques including steady state photolysis, fluorescence, cyclic voltammetry, laser flash photolysis, and electron spin resonance spin-trapping methods.

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International audienceThe abilities of two naphthalimide derivatives with a methacryloyl group to initiate, when incorporated in multi-component systems, a ring-opening polymerization of epoxides and a radical polymerization of acrylates under different irradiation sources (e.g. very soft halogen lamp irradiation, laser diode at 457 nm, laser diode at 405 nm and blue LED bulb at 462 nm) have been investigated. One of them is particularly efficient for the cationic and radical photopolymerization of an epoxide/acrylate blend in a one-step hybrid cure and leads to the formation of an interpenetrated polymer network IPN (30 s for getting tack free coatings). The migration stability of one of these naphthalimide derivatives is found to be excellent in the cured polyacrylates and IPNs. The photochemical mechanisms are studied by steady state photolysis, fluorescence, cyclic voltammetry, electron spin resonance spin trapping and laser flash photolysis techniques