TOUGHENING OF A TRIFUNCTIONAL EPOXY SYSTEM .4. DYNAMIC-MECHANICAL RELAXATIONAL STUDY OF THE THERMOPLASTIC-MODIFIED CURE PROCESS

Dynamic mechanical spectroscopy has been used to investigate the cure of a thermoplastically modified trifunctional epoxy resin. The complex dissolution, curing behavior, and variations in the glass transition of the thermoplastic (PSF) phase were described, as was the T-g behavi or of the epoxy phase. Prereaction of the PSF material with the epoxy resin was found to greatly increase the solubility of the PSF in the e poxy phase with little effect on the concentration of the epoxy monome r dissolving in the PSF phase. The curing behavior of the epoxy compon ent in the thermoplastic phase was also investigated, in addition to c hanges in the mobility of the network at both gelation and vitrificati on. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.