Omnic

The degree of conversion (DC) of the monomers into a polymer disks was used as a measure of polymerization efficiency between EGDMA and EGEMA. The prepared polymer disks were stored at room temperature in airtight glass containers prior to mechanical, physical and chemical characterization for 24 hrs. For FTIR-ATR analysis, the bottom side of the prepared disks was placed in contact with the diamond crystal and force was applied to improve contact and signal. A Nicolet iS50 Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) system in Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) mode using diamond crystal was used in transmittance mode (2cm⁻¹ resolution and 25 scans for each sample) over a 400–4000cm⁻¹ range and the data were converted to absorbance (OMNIC, Thermo Fisher, Waltham, MA). The absorbance data was used to calculate the degree of conversion or polymerization using equation 3 [28 ,29 ].

The bottom side of “as prepared” discs ( $n=8$ for each polymer type) was characterized by Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance (ATR) mode and the data was converted to degree of conversion (DC) for macromer polymerization efficiency. For FTIR-ATR analysis, the bottom side of each prepared discs was placed in contact with the diamond crystal. Spectra in transmittance mode was collected over 400–4,000 cm⁻¹ (2.0 cm⁻¹ resolution and 25 scans for each sample) range using the Nicolet iS50 FTIR system in attenuated total reflectance (ATR).^{18 (link)} For uncured macromer, 20 μl macromer mixture was placed on the ATR crystal and FTIR spectrum was collected. The OMNIC (Thermo Fisher, Waltham, MA) software was used or data collection and conversion to absorbance. The absorbance values at 1608 and 1,637 cm⁻¹ for cured polymer and non-cured macromer were used for DC calculation using the reported equation.^{26 (link),31 (link)}