Temperature‐sensitive luminescence of tris (β‐diketone) europium chelates for monitoring high‐speed cationic photopolymerizations

The temperature‐dependent luminescence of tris (β‐diketone) chelates of europium was used for in situ temperature measurements during cationic photopolymerizations of vinyl ethers. These molecular‐level luminescent probes provided a real‐time, noninvasive method for monitoring temperature during these high‐speed polymerizations. Two specific probes, tris (benzoyl‐1, 1, 1‐trifluoroacetone) europium and tris (1,1,1,5,5,5,‐hexafluoroacetylacetone) europium, met several stringent spectral and performance requirements for application in our system. The luminescence from these probes exhibits a reproducible temperature dependence over a wide temperature range and is not sensitive to changes in viscosity. In situ temperature profiles obtained using this novel technique verified the importance of thermal effects during these highly exothermic photopolymerizations. These studies have demonstrated the utility of the tris(β‐diketone) europium chelates for characterizing the temperature during high‐speed photopolymerizations that cannot be monitored using conventional techniques. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.