Eine größere Anzahl von Stoffen wird auf ihre polymerisationshemmende Wirkung hin untersucht, indem ihr Einfluß auf die Geschwindigkeit der Polymerisation und den Polymerisationsgrad des entstehenden Produktes bestimmt wird. Die Messungen erlauben es, die Inhibitoren in 4 Klassen einzuteilen, je nachdem welchen Teilvorgang der Polymerisation sie beeinflussen. Gemeinsam mit Professor G. Wittig wird die Frage untersucht, ob Antioxydantien immer als Polymerisationsinhibitoren wirken.

Rapid underwater bonding of clear polycarbonate to metal or plastic substrates at temperatures approaching 0 °C was studied. Bonding was achieved within minutes using ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate gel cured using the photoinitiator (dibenzoylferrocene) with a blue-LED light source. The optimum initiator concentration varied from 0.3% to 0.1 wt % for adhesive films 0.5 to 1.2 mm thick, respectively. The polymerisation rate shows a negative temperature dependence making it highly suitable for cold environments.

The use of “purified” cooling agents in pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations only dates back to the late 1880s with the commercial production of menthol from Japanese peppermint (Mentha arvensis) oil in Japan (1). The cultivation of peppermint in Japan before the Christian era appears to predate any other country, and menthol is reputed to have been used medicinally for almost as long (2). In the Western world, it was about 1770 that the Dutch botanist, H. David Gaubius, first isolated menthol from the oil of Mentha piperita in Utrecht (2,3).

A method is disclosed for the catalytic polymerization of cyanoacrylate monomers by contacting said monomers with an organotin compound. Also included is a polymerizable system comprising cyanoacrylate monomer and an organotin compound, wherein upon contact of the monomer and the compound, the compound catalyzes the polymerization of the monomer.