A (Triphenylphosphine)Silver (I) Complex as a New Performance Additive in Free-Radical Photopolymerization under Air

Unusual photochemical properties of an Ag(I)-derived complex, i.e., bis[(µ-chloro)bis(triphenylphosphine)silver (I)] ([Ag](PPh3)) are demonstrated when used in free-radical photopolymerization reactions: i) [Ag](PPh3) can act as an innovative photoinitiating system when associated with a commercial type I photoinitiator 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone to overcome the oxygen inhibition effect during the free-radical photopolymerization of acrylate monomers, thus accelerating the kinetics of polymerization under air; ii) silver-based nanoparticles can be in situ generated under air, thus leading to new antibacterial coatings which prevent the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus after few hours of incubation.