화학공학소재연구정보센터
Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.35, No.3, 233-239, 1995
Comparison of Microwave and Thermal Cure of an Epoxy-Amine Matrix
An investigation was carried out into the effect of a microwave cure on an epoxy prepolymer with a cycloaliphatic diamine mixture, as compared to a standard thermal cure. The microwave waveguide and process (propagation mode TE(01)) were adjusted to obtain large homogeneous samples. The extent of reaction, x, was measured during the microwave processing by size exclusion chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry. A good estimate of x was found using a modified DiBenedetto equation correlating x and the glass transition temperature T-g. The homogeneity of the samples was checked during the last steps of cure, showing the efficiency of the microwave processing and waveguide. The influence of the nature of the mold (metallic or dielectric) on the reaction kinetic was also investigated. Samples cured by both thermal and microwave processing were characterized by dynamic and static mechanical properties and then compared with those of fully crosslinked networks, i.e., postcured at a high temperature.