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The effects of silica fillers on the gelation and vitrification of highly filled epoxy‐amine thermosets
Author(s) -
Altmann Nara,
Halley Peter J.,
CooperWhite Justin,
Lange Jakob
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3900(200105)169:1<171::aid-masy171>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - vitrification , epoxy , thermosetting polymer , materials science , filler (materials) , composite material , kinetics , amine gas treating , chemical engineering , chemistry , organic chemistry , medicine , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering , andrology
Highly filled thermosets are used in applications such as integrated circuit (IC) packaging. However, a detailed understanding of the effects of the fillers on the macroscopic cure properties is limited by the complex cure of such systems. This work systematically quantifies the effects of filler content on the kinetics, gelation and vitrification of a model silica‐filled epoxy/amine system in order to begin to understand the role of the filler in IC packaging cure. At high cure temperatures (100°C and above) there appears to be no effect of fillers on cure kinetics and gelation and vitrification times. However, a decrease in the gelation and vitrification times and increase the reaction rate is seen with increasing filler content at low cure temperatures (60‐90°C). An explanation for these results is given in terms of catalysation of the epoxy amine reaction by hydrogen donor species present on the silica surface and interfacial effects.