Effect of the photoinitiator system on the polymerization of secondary methacrylamides of systematically varied structure for dental adhesive applications

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the photoinitiator system on the polymerization kinetics of methacrylamide-based monomers as alternatives to methacrylates in adhesives dental-based materials. Methods In total, 16 groups were tested. Monofunctional monomers (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) – HEMA; (2-hydroxy-1-ethyl methacrylate) −2EMATE, (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylamide) – HEMAM; and (N-(1-hydroxybutan-2-yl) methacrylamide) −2EM; were combined with bifunctional monomers containing the same polymerizing moieties as the monofunctional counterparts (HEMA-BDI; 2EMATE-BDI; HEMAM-BDI; and 2EM-BDI) at 50/50 M ratios. BHT was used as inhibitor (0.1 wt%) and the photoinitiators used were: CQ + EDMAB (0.2/0.8), BAPO (0.2), IVOCERIN (0.2), and DMPA (0.2), in wt%. The polymerization kinetics were monitored using Near-IR spectroscopy (∼6165 cm−1) in real-time while the specimens were photoactivated with a mercury arc lamp (Acticure 2; 320−500 nm, 300 mW/cm2) for 5 min, and maximum rate of polymerization (Rpmax, in %.sˉ1), degree of conversion at Rpmax (DC@Rpmax, in %), and the final degree of conversion (Final DC, in %) were calculated (n = 3). Initial viscosity was measured with an oscillating rheometer (n = 3). Data were analyzed using Two-way ANOVA for the polymerization kinetics and one–way ANOVA for the viscosity. Multiple comparisons were made using the Tukey’s test (∝ = 0.05). Results There was statistically significant interaction between monomer and photoinitiator (p Significance this work demonstrated the feasibility of using newly-synthesized methacrylamide monomers in conjunction with a series of initiator systems already used in commercial materials.