Effect of resin staging on frontal polymerization of dicyclopentadiene

In thermal frontal polymerization (FP), ambient temperature and staging conditions highly affect the resin behavior and front properties. This study describes the effect of staging conditions and resin reactivity on frontal ring opening metathesis polymerization of dicyclopentadiene in presence of phosphite-inhibited second-generation Grubbs catalyst. An experimental setup is designed to characterize and understand the effect of inhibitor concentration, incubation time, and incubation temperature on front velocity, activation time, and front temperature of the FP reaction. The results reveal that front properties are influenced by various factors, including available energy density of resin, stability of catalyst-inhibitor complex, resin temperature, and resin viscosity. An increase in staging temperature results in lower pot lives but faster gelation process and activation of FP reaction. Additionally, increasing the inhibitor concentration leads to slower fronts, higher activation times, and longer pot lives. The results of this study can be extended to other FP systems and can be used in design of new manufacturing processes and applications using FP.