Isolating the mobility and characterizing the effect of crosslink structure versus the monomer state using ion time of flight

The relationship of conductivity and the mobility of the charge carriers to the viscosity have been separately measured during buildup in the network structure of an epoxy–amine as the reaction approaches the gel point and as a function of temperature for the unreacted resin using dielectric and ion-time-of-flight measurements. The mobility, not conductivity, is observed to correlate with the changing viscosity and a significant increase in the number of mobile charge carriers is observed during the approach to the gel point of the polymerization. This is most likely due to the increasing number of O–H groups created during the polymerization reactions.