Metal methacrylates polymerization induced by γ-radiation

One of the traditional goals of materials research has been the preparation of new and useful materials which combine the properties of polymers with those of metals. These materials can show important features, for example catalytic activity, gas adsorption, anion exchange or/and have biocides activity. The synthesis of metal containing monomers follow by a polymerization process in one method to introduce metal ions into a polymer structure, and gamma radiation can be easily applied to initiate the polymerization. Here we report the synthesis of Cu(II), Zn(II), Fe(III) and Al(III) polymethacrylates applying gamma radiation to the corresponding metallic methacrylate monomer. The combination of spectroscopic methods with electronic microscopy reveals important structural changes of these coordination polymers, which depends strongly of the kind of metallic ion introduced and the dose of γ-radiation applied during the polymerization; however, the propagative radical is same in all the cases. (Author)