Morphology cure time effects

On the other hand, if the cure rate is much faster than the phase separation, then the morphology is controlled by the cure rate through a chemical pinning process. In this system, phase separation is mainly controlled by the cure rate of the epoxy matrix. Faster curing rates and shorter gel times lead to smaller PEI-rich particles with an increasing cure temperature. The temperature effect on the viscosity of reaction mixture is relatively small (i.e., the complex viscosities measured by Physica are 7 and 4 Pa.s at curing temperatures of 150 and 190°C, respectively). 

The formation of a dual-phase morphology in PEI-epoxy IPNs is explained in the following way [90,171]. Two cases were discussed. First, when phase separation is induced by the curing reaction, PEI-modified epoxy shows bimodal UCST behavior (Fig. 30). At composition (p (volume fraction of component 1) phase separation starts at conversion x when the curing temperature is Ti. Because of the spinodal mechanism of decomposition and due to the lower viscosity of the medium, the system will have macroscale phase separation and domains with volume fraction cp[ and. As the reaction proceeds and the conversion X2 is reached, an abrupt change in the equilibrium composition of the PEI-rich phase occurs from cp l to (p " in a very short time. This abrupt change is similar to the effect of the two-... 

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