ON THE FORMATION OF LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE TEXTURE IN EPOXY-RESINS

Three epoxy resins and two curing agents were studied in their monomer ic as well as polymeric states. Two monomers were monotropic liquid cr ystals. Characterization of liquid crystallinity before, during and af ter curing reaction was carried out by DSC, optical microscopy and WAX S. It was found that LC texture develops in every epoxy/(curing agent) system studied in this work. Nucleation and growth is a physical mech anism for the Formation of initial liquid crystallinity. The final tex ture is not well defined and likely contains nematic, poorly ordered s mectic and isotropic phases, Schematic diagram of the possible states of LCTs is discussed.