STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN EPOXY-RESIN MODIFIED WITH THERMOPLASTIC POLYMER - A MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION APPROACH

The time evolution of the collective structure factor S(q,t) for epoxy resin cured in the mixture with thermoplastic polymer is simulated us ing a Monte Carlo technique. The simulation shows that the growth rate of the structure factor increases and then decreases, showing a maxim um as the reactivity between an epoxide group and a cross-linking agen t increases. It is also observed that the segmental interaction energy between the epoxy prepolymer and the thermoplastic polymer is an impo rtant controlling factor of the morphology of two-phase structure.