Photopolymers: Radiation-curable imaging systems

Photopolymers can be viewed as a special type of radiation-curable system. In these systems, irradiation can be carried out in bulk to produce uniform physical property changes in the coating. By far the greatest utility for these materials has been derived from imagewise exposure, in which the physical property changes that occur on exposure are used for imaging purposes. This chapter is limited to free radical-initiated photopolymer imaging systems, that is, systems that involve the free radical-initiated polymerization of vinyl monomers. Further, the discussion is limited to those systems that contain a preformed polymer, or binder, in addition to the monomer and initiator system. Applications of photopolymer imaging systems of this type will be described in the final section of this chapter. 228 refs., 1 tab