Dynamic mechanical studies on epoxy resins cured by electron beam radiation

Dynamic mechanical analyses on electron beam (EB)-cured epoxy resins were made in the paper. Through the studies on variation rules of gel fraction, tan δ and storage modulus for varied samples, the important effects of EB radiation dosage, initiator dosage, chemical structure, molecular weight and distribution, and heat treatment on curing reaction and properties of epoxy resin systems have been obtained. Under low radiation doses, the gel fraction, glass transition temperature (Tg) and high temperature modulus of cured epoxy resin increase with increasing radiation dose and initiator dosage. The crosslinking density of epoxy resin decreases slightly with increasing molecular weight. When radiation doses increase, the molecular weight has a little influence on the increasing of curing level and an optimal dosage of initiator appears. The experimental results indicate that the radiation reactivity of epoxy resins is directly associated with their chemical structures. Under the same radiation dose, the reaction extent in sample with high polydispersity is higher than that in low polydispersity sample, but the degree of homogeneity in crosslinking structure is lower. When the EB-cured epoxy resin is heated, the crosslinking density is enhanced. If the temperature of heating treatment exceeds the thermal-initiating temperature of initiator, the local thermal-crosslinking network can be formed in resin system.