| Abstract: | The study of network formation during the curing of an epoxy-resin with anhydride and tertiary amine has been carried out by the Monte Carlo method. Both dynamical and structural properties are studied. The model resembles the well known cluster-cluster aggregation: the reaction is modelled as a “geometrical” phenomenon and neglects attractive and repulsive energies except for an excluded volume condition. A reaction occurs always when two active sites are in the vicinity to each other, meaning that the “chemical” processes are taken to be much faster than diffusion (as in diffusion-limited aggregation). Results are presented of two-dimensional square lattice simulations with periodic boundary conditions and are discussed with respect to the proposed mechanism of the curing reaction and to the assumptions of the diffusion-limited nature of the processes. The scope and limitations of such two-dimensional simulations are discussed. |
