Ambient temperature curing photopolymerizable epoxide compositions utilizing epoxide ethers and methods

Claim 2

A photopolymerizable epoxide comprising: A. 50-99.9 percent by weight polymerizable epoxide compounds, at least 25 percent by weight of such epoxide compounds being an epoxide ether compound selected from the group consisting of 1,4-bis[(2,3-epoxypropoxy)methyl]-cyclohexane and 1,10-decamethylenedioxy-bis-(2,3-epoxypropane); and B. At least 0.1 percent by weight of a photoinitiator soluble in said epoxide compounds and decomposable upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation to provide a Lewis acid to initiate polymerization of said epoxide compounds, said composition being curable to a tack-free condition at ambient temperatures upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation for a period of 0.5 to 60 seconds.

Claim 3

The composition of claim 1 wherein said photoinitiator is a sulfonium salt photoinitiator.

Claim 4

The composition of claim 1 wherein said photoinitiator is a diazonium salt photoinitiator.

Claim 5

The composition of claim 1 wherein said epoxide ether compound comprises at least 40 percent by weight of the polymerizable epoxide compounds.

Claim 6

The composition of claim 1 wherein said epoxide compounds include an epoxidic ester having at least two epoxycycloalkyl groups per molecule.

Claim 7

In the method of cationic polymerization of an epoxide formulation, the steps comprising: A. admixing 50-99.9 percent by weight of cationically polymerizable epoxide compounds with at least 0.1 percent by weight of a photoinitiator soluble therein, said photoinitiator being decomposable upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation to provide a Lewis acid to initiate polymerization of said cationically polymerizable epoxide compounds to form a photopolymerizable composition, said cationically polymerizable compounds being comprised of at least 25 percent by weight of an epoxide ether compound selected from the group consisting of 1,4-bis[2,3-epoxypropoxy)methyl]-cyclohexane and 1,10-decamethylenedioxy-bis-(2,3-epoxypropane); and B. exposing said photopolymerizable composition to electromagnetic radiation at ambient temperatures to decompose said photoinitiator to generate a Lewis acid to initiate polymerization of said polymerizable epoxide materials, said exposure producing polymerization of said composition to a tack-free condition within a period of less than 60 seconds.

Claim 8

In the method of cationic polymerization of an epoxide formulation, the steps comprising: A. admixing 50-99.9 percent by weight of cationically polymerizable epoxide compounds with at least 0.1 percent by weight of a photoinitiator soluble therein, said photoinitiator being decomposable upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation to provide a Lewis acid to initiate polymerization of said cationically polymerizable epoxide compounds to form a photopolymerizable composition, said cationically polymerizable compounds being comprised of at least 25 percent by weight of an epoxide ether compound selected from the group consisting of 1,4-bis[2,3-epoxypropoxy)methyl]-cyclohexane and 1,10-decamethylenedioxy-bis-(2,3-epoxypropane); and B. exposing said photopolymerizable composition to electromagnetic radiation at ambient temperatures to decompose said photoinitiator to generate a Lewis acid to initiate polymerization of said polymerizable epoxide materials, said exposure producing polymerization of said composition to a tack-free condition within a period of less than 60 seconds.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6 wherein said photopolymerizable composition is applied to a substrate as a coating prior to said step of exposure to electromagnetic radiation.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 wherein said epoxide ether compound comprises at least 40 percent by weight of the polymerizable epoxide compounds.

Claim 11

The method of claim 6 wherein said photoinitiator is a sulfonium salt photoinitiator.

Claim 12

The method of claim 6 wherein said photoinitiator is a diazonium salt photoinitiator.