Temperature dependence of the laser‐initiated polymerization of a thiol‐ene system

The laser‐initiated polymerization of a thiol‐ene photopolymerizable system was studied. The laser was operated in single‐ and multiple‐pulse modes to generate exotherms, which were measured in a modified differential scanning calorimeter. Arrhenius plots of the polymerization, obtained by measuring polymerization exotherms at various temperatures, showed positive and negative portions. Pseudoactivation energies for the thiol‐ene polymerization increased rapidly at low conversions (<50%) of the thiol and ene chromophores. The results were comparable to those obtained from photopolymerization of multifunctional acrylate monomers.