Analysis of Thermoset Materials, Precursors And Products (Rapra Review Reports)

Annotation This report presents an overview of the chemical analysis of thermosets. Materials based on thermosets present the analyst with considerable challenges due to their complexity and the wide range of polymer types and additives available. This review sets out to present an introduction to the analytical techniques and methods that are used to characterise and carry out quality control work on thermosets, investigate the failure of thermosets products and to deformulate thermoset compounds. The review is accompanied by around 400 abstracts from papers and books in the Rapra Polymer Library database, to facilitate further reading on this subject Contents......Page 11 2.2 Basic Chemistry......Page 15 2.3.1 Organic Modifiers......Page 17 2.3.3 Antidegradants/Stabilisers......Page 18 2.3.4 Curing Species (e.g., Hardeners and Accelerators)......Page 19 2.3.7 Miscellaneous Additives......Page 20 3.1 Wet Chemistry Techniques......Page 21 3.2.6 Raman Spectroscopy......Page 22 3.3.4 Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS)......Page 23 3.4.2 Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA)......Page 24 3.4.5 Dielectric Analysis (DEA)......Page 25 4.1 Determination of the Molecular Weight of Thermoset Precursors and the Separation of their Oligomers......Page 27 4.1.1 Gel Permeation Chromatography......Page 28 4.1.2 Liquid Chromatography Techniques......Page 29 4.1.3 Epoxy Resins......Page 30 4.1.6 Other Techniques......Page 31 4.2.1 Infrared Spectroscopy......Page 33 4.2.2 NMR Spectroscopy......Page 36 4.2.4 Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography......Page 37 5.1 Determination of Organic Modifiers......Page 38 5.2.1 Particulate Fillers......Page 39 5.2.2 Fibrous Fillers......Page 40 6.1 Antidegradants......Page 41 6.3 Pigments......Page 42 6.5 Flame Retardants......Page 43 6.6 Curing Systems......Page 44 7.1 Dielectric Analysis......Page 46 7.2 Differential Scanning Calorimetry......Page 47 7.4 Thermal Mechanical Analysis......Page 49 7.5 Scanning Vibrating Needle Curemeter......Page 50 7.7 Spectroscopy Techniques......Page 51 7.8 Thermally Stimulated Depolarisation......Page 52 8.1 X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)......Page 53 8.3 Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS)......Page 54 9.3.2 Liquid Contaminants......Page 55 10 Conclusion......Page 56 Additional References......Page 57 Abbreviations and Acronyms......Page 58 Abstracts from the Polymer Library Database......Page 61 Subject Index......Page 145 Company Index......Page 155 Thermosets comprise around 25% of world plastic consumption. The use of thermosets dates back over 100 years to the advent of phenolics. Today, a large range of different reactive chemicals is used in the synthesis of these resins. Common thermoset systems include phenol-formaldehyde, melamine-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde, resorcinol-formaldehyde, epoxy, polyurethane, polyalkyd, silicone, polyester, acrylic, furan and polyimide. A variety of additives are found in thermosets. Plasticiser-type compounds are used to promote flow in high viscosity compounds such as epoxy resins. Particulate f.