Phase separation time/temperature dependence of thermoplastics-modified thermosetting systems

The cure-induced phase separation processes of various thermoplastics(TP)-modified thermosetting systems which show upper critical solution temperature (UCST) or lower critical solution temperature (LCST) were studied with emphasis on the temperature dependency of the phase separation time and its potential application in the cure time-temperature processing window. We found that the phase separation time/temperature relationship follows the simple Arrhenius equation. The cure-induced phase separation activation energy E _a(ps) generated from the linear fitting of the Arrhenius equation is irrelevant to the detection means of phase separation time. We also found that E_a (ps) is insensitive to TP content, TP molecular weight and curing rate, but it changes with the cure reaction kinetics and the chemical environment of the systems. With the established phase separation time-temperature dependence relation, we can easily establish the whole cure time-temperature transformation (TTT) diagram with morphology information which is a useful map for the TP/TS composites processing industry.