Curing of cyanate ester resin: a novel approach based on FTIR spectroscopyand comparison with other techniques

The aim of this study is to demonstrate a new sampling methodology to study resin curing by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The princi ple of this novel approach consists in curing resin directly into the KBr p ellet. In this method, only one pellet is needed during the treatment time. This approach is validated in the case of isothermal curing. We investigat e the effects of the chemical nature of the resin, the amount of catalyst a nd epoxy added. All results are compared with the previous literature data and are in excellent agreement. Curing measurements are validated by therma l data obtained by differential scanning calorimetry. Then, in the last par t, kinetic constant of cyanate ester resin curing is calculated by means of FTIR experimental data, and kinetic model available in the literature is v erified. This kinetic approach has allowed us to compare our FTIR data with dynamic mechanical and dielectric measurements. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.