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Monitoring cure in epoxies containing carbon nanotubes with an optical‐fiber Fresnel refractometer
Author(s) -
Dimopoulos Athanasios,
Buggy Stephen J.,
Skordos Alexandros A.,
James Stephen W.,
Tatam Ralph P.,
Partridge Ivana K.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.30115
Subject(s) - materials science , epoxy , thermosetting polymer , refractometer , curing (chemistry) , differential scanning calorimetry , refractive index , composite material , carbon nanotube , nanocomposite , isothermal process , polymer chemistry , optoelectronics , physics , thermodynamics
Fresnel refractometry was used to follow the changes in the refractive index during the isothermal curing of a simple difunctional epoxy resin, a commercial formulated multifunctional epoxy blend, and the same two resin systems modified by the addition of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The refractive index change, monitored via an embedded optical fiber, was correlated with the degree of cure established from isothermal differential scanning calorimetry measurements. A good correlation was established in all cases, indicating the potential of the technique to be used for online cure monitoring in thermosetting resin carbon nanocomposites. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009