Effecting factors on the temperature characterization in electron-beam curing of epoxy resins

The temperature characterizations of epoxy resin systems during electron-beam curing were measured by using automatic testing and collection systems. The effects of different factors, such as the chemical structures, the molecular weights of epoxy resins and the concentration of resins in the mixture with dilution were investigated. The properties of cured resins were evaluated by the gel mass fraction and the dynamic mechanical analysis. The data indicate that the rising of temperature in resins mainly results from the electron energy absorbance by the epoxy resins, in the process of EB curing, and the absorbency of resin systems depends on its chemical structures rather than the molecular weight of the epoxy oligomer. The addition of diluting agent would change the temperature characterization of resin systems and it was found that the more the concentration of the diluting agent, the higher the peak of temperature curves.