Currently, the usage of photopolymerizable resins is often limited to thin films due to low penetration depths of UV-light.<br />UV-initiated frontal polymerization gives rise to a much increased curing depth of photopolymers. While a UV light impulse initiates a polymerization on the surface, the reaction is carried on throughout the monomer formulation as a propagating front and is driven by its own heat release. In literature , peroxides are used as thermal initiators for frontal polymerization. However, either high initiation temperatures or low shelf lives of these compounds limit the field of application.<br />Interestingly, using peracrylates as additives enables frontal polymerization and also shows a destabilization effect during copolymerization. As the peresters get incorporated into the polymer back bone, their branching increases which leads to lower stability.<br />With the concept of radical induced destabilization of peresters during copolymerization, lower initiation temperatures can be achieved while maintaining good storage stabilities for the peresters.
