A new strategy to characterize the extent of reaction of thermoset elastomers |
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| Authors: | Antonio R Webb Jian Yang Guillermo A Ameer |
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| Institution: | 1. Biomedical Engineering Department, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd., Room E310, Evanston, Illinois 60208;2. Bioengineering Department, The University of Texas at Arlington, 501 West First Street, Room 241, Arlington, Texas 76010;3. J. Yang's contribution to the work was performed while he was a post‐doctoral associate at Northwestern University. |
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| Abstract: | A new method for determining the extent of reaction of thermoset elastomers was developed based on equilibrium swelling and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The extent of reaction was defined based on the molecular weight between crosslinks (Mc) of a polymer sample in relation to Mc at the onset of gelation and at complete reaction. The molecular weight between crosslinks was measured using equilibrium swelling, whereas rheology and DMA were used to determine the exact point of gelation and reaction completion, respectively. The extent of reaction of poly(1,8‐octanediol‐co‐citrate) at various polymerization conditions was investigated and this method was used to study the relationship between mechanical properties, molecular weight between crosslinks, and extent of reaction. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1318–1328, 2008 |
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| Keywords: | dynamic mechanical analysis elastomers extent of reaction gelation rheology thermosets |
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