Relaxation time correlation with dielectric properties

The epoxy resin data and the post-cure data, taken together, show that the dipolar relaxation is associated with the temperature dependence of the polymer chain mobility in the vicinity of the glass transition. The WLF analysis of the dipolar relaxation during cure has not been carried out. In order to complete the analysis, correlated measurements of Tg, extent of cure, and dielectric properties must be made as functions of cure time and temperature. In the absence of such definitive studies, various indirect methods have been employed to analyze dielectric relaxations in curing systems, as described below. 

In Section 4, we have examined, from a fundamental point of view, how temperature and cure affect the dielectric properties of thermosetting resins. The principal conclusions of that study were (1) that conductivity (or its reciprocal, resistivity) is perhaps the most useful overall probe of cure state, (2) that dipolar relaxations are associated with the glass transition (i.e., with vitrification), (3) that correlations between viscosity and both resistivity and dipole relaxation time are expected early in cure, but will disappear as gelation is approached, and (4) that the relaxed permittivity follows chemical changes during cure but is cumbersome to use quantitatively. 

The general experimental fact of constant frequency dispersion (or time dependence of the correlation function) of the a-relaxation at constant Ta for different combinations of T and P has an immense impact on glass transition. Although the data were mostly obtained by dielectric relaxation, the same effect was found in some glass-formers by photon correlation spectroscopy. The primary concern of most theories, including those mentioned in the NY Times article, is to explain the temperature and pressure dependences of the structural relaxation time Tq.. In these theories, the dispersion of the structural relaxation is either not addressed, or else considered separately with additional input not involved in arriving at r . Consequently, the frequency dispersion is unrelated to the relaxation time of the structural a-relaxation in these theories, and they are unlikely to be consistent with the T, / -superpositioning property by happenstance. 

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