REAL-TIME IN-SITU MONITORING OF THE THERMAL CURE OF A BISPHENOL CYANATE - A VIEW TOWARD INTELLIGENT PROCESSING

A dispersive fiber-optic Raman spectrometer was used to remotely monit or, in real-time, the local temperature and the extent of reaction of a commercial cyanate ester polymer (AroCy L-10). The local temperature was determined by solving the Boltzmann relation governing the intens ity ratio of the Raman Stokes and anti-Stokes scattering of a referenc e eo mode which does not vary with the reaction chemistry. The extent of the reaction can be monitored using either individual peaks associa ted with the reactant or product or by using the entire spectrum and p rincipal component multivariate calibration. The use of principal comp onent analysis has distinct advantages over the single-peak method. (C ) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.