title: Setting reaction of polyacid modified composite resins or compomers.
abstract: The hardening of modified polyacid composite resins (compomers) and glass-ionomers have been studied using infrared spectroscopy. The acid-base reaction in Ketac-fil, a glass ionomer, was followed by the ratio between the COOH band located around 1715 cm⁻¹ and that corresponding to COO⁻ located around 1570 cm⁻¹. The combination of infrared analysis and band narrowing treatments enable us to propose in the glass-ionomer two maturation steps. First, a very rapid equilibrium acid-base related, and second the cross-linking of polycarboxylate with the metal ions present in the cement. In compomers, a new reaction has been described involving polymerization induced by free radicals besides the two steps associated with the acid-base reaction. Using infrared spectroscopy and band narrowing techniques, it is shown that water is essential to complete the hardening process but no acid-base reaction is produced since the COO⁻ band does not appear. The reaction associated with free radicals could be described as a polymerization of methacrylate monomers together with an aqueous dilution of the filling particles releasing different metal cations that would chelate with the polymer molecules to form a macromolecular structure.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Biofísica (Centro Mixto CSIC-UPV/EHU) and Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad del País Vasco, Spain. joseluis.arrondo@ehu.es
authors.forename: J L R
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Arrondo
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Collado
authors.forename: Soler
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: I
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Triana
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ellacuria