Fluorescence quenching method for measuring monomer consumption rates during free‐radical crosslinking copolymerization

The steady‐state fluorescence (SSF) technique was used to study the polymerization rate in free‐radical crosslinking copolymerization (FCC) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDM). Pyrene (Py) was used as a fluorescent probe for the in situ polymerization experiments. The increase in Py intensity was monitored during FCC. The Stern–Volmer kinetic was employed to determine the MMA consumption rate during gelation process for various EGDM contents and at different temperatures. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 80: 1907–1913, 2001