Temperature modulated optical refractometry: A novel and practical approach on curing and thermal transitions characterizations of epoxy resins

Chemically induced glass transition and shrinkage during polymer curing are often disregarded, albeit their strong effect on cohesion and organization of solid-state matter. One strategy to access these features is the acquisition of the static and dynamic volume expansion coefficients. “Temperature...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPolymer testing Vol. 77; p. 105915
Main Authors Jackson dos Santos, Demetrio, Gouveia, Julia Rocha, Philipp, Martine, Augusto, Aline Cristina, Ito, Nathalie Minako, Krüger, Jan Kristian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2019
Subjects
Curing kinetics
Epoxy
Glass transition
Refractive index
Shrinkage
Glass transition
Shrinkage
Epoxy
Curing kinetics
Refractive index
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Summary:Chemically induced glass transition and shrinkage during polymer curing are often disregarded, albeit their strong effect on cohesion and organization of solid-state matter. One strategy to access these features is the acquisition of the static and dynamic volume expansion coefficients. “Temperature Modulated Optical Refractometry” (TMOR) is a novel and purely thermo-optical analysis technique that allows the time or temperature evolution of both properties. With the aid of TMOR, the curing kinetics of an epoxy resin, including the inherent chemically induced glass transition and shrinkage, was investigated in this work. Shrinkage of an epoxy resin, as function of refractive index changes, was measured for the first time. Afterwards, dynamic thermal coefficients and shrinkage, verified at different time intervals, revealed the hindrance of molecular self-diffusion at the late curing stage. In addition, TMOR results were compared with rheological measurements, and yielded new insights into curing kinetics of an epoxy. •Novel thermo-optical technique for thermal transition analysis of polymers.•Shrinkage of epoxy resin during curing reported for the first time using this thermo-optical method.•Simultaneous measurement of dynamic thermal expansion coefficients and shrinkage.•Interplay between volume changes and molecular mobility hindrance of an epoxy resin.•Possibility of exploiting kinetic and dynamic contributions involved in thermal transitions of industrially applied polymers.
ISSN:0142-9418
1873-2348
DOI:10.1016/j.polymertesting.2019.105915