Polymer Innovation Blog

Non-Isothermal Curing During many thermoset processing steps (and in this example, lamination of a B-staged (partially cured) prepreg, a non-isothermal temperature ramp is used in the process. The viscosity profile for the B-staged prepreg at a heating rate of 10°C/minute to a cure temperature of 175°C is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Viscosity as a function of time for a non-isothermal heating ra…

In the previous posts, the basics of dielectric analysis was presented. Part Three of this series will demonstrate the relationships between dielectric data during isothermal curing. First, let’s examine the isothermal during process. A nice example is the work of Bidstrup, Sheppard and Senturia at MIT in 1989 [1]. They examined the isothermal curing of DGEBA and DDS: - DGEBA (diglycidyl ether of…

Webinar Date: Tuesday December 16, 2025 Webinar Time: 1:00 PM EST Registration Link: https://ctherm.com/resources/webinars/advanced-polymer-composites-electronics-packaging/ Abstract: Composites using advanced polymers and reinforcements are a key enabler in the field of electronics packaging. Specifically, thermoset polymers are used extensively to “package” electronic components. An electronic …

While working on these posts and my book on “Thermosets,” I was going back through the literature related to the relationship of Tg and conversion and found a couple of book chapters I wrote back in 1990 [1 ,2].    As discussed in the previous two posts, in the late 1980’s there was considerable research in […] The post The Impact of Conversion on the Glass Transition Temperature – Part Three: Mo…

Over the years it has become apparent that an often mis-understood concept is how the fractional conversion (or percent conversion) plays a large role in the development of the glass transition temperature (Tg) during curing.  The question is why?  For many reasons it is important to keep current on scientific literature in your field.  But […] The post The Impact of Conversion on the Glass Trans…

The next few posts will discuss other types of thermosetting polymers including vinyl esters, unsaturated polyesters, and polyurethanes. Vinyl esters are a class of thermosetting polymers that have properties intermediate between unsaturated polyester and epoxy. Vinyl esters are cured in a similar manner to unsaturated polyester in that the vinyl esters are combined with styrenic […] The post The…

Guest blog post by Jeremy Pasatta, Advanced Polymer Coatings Adhesion testing is a critical process in evaluating the performance of coatings, ensuring that they can withstand both environmental and mechanical stress. Poor adhesion can lead to premature coating failure, reducing the lifespan of a product or structure. To prevent such issues, various methods are used […] The post Organic Coatings …

Guest blog post by Jeremy Pasatta, Advanced Polymer Coatings High performance thermoset coatings are used in a variety of applications, from marine to protective and industrial applications. One of the key components for success of these coatings is adhesion to a variety of substrates, which is facilitated using adhesion promoters. These specialized chemicals play a […] The post Organic Coatings …

Guest blog post by Jeremy Pasatta, Advanced Polymer Coatings In industrial protective and marine coatings, having a smooth uniform finish is critical to performance attributes such as corrosion protection, discharge of viscous cargoes and cleanability for internal coatings. One crucial component in ensuring this is the use of wetting agents. These additives play a vital […] The post Organic Coati…

Guest post by Jeremy Pasatta, Advanced Polymer Coatings When it comes to high-quality coatings, whether they’re for industrial applications, consumer products, or architectural finishes, one issue that can significantly impact performance and appearance is foam. Foaming in coatings can lead to defects like poor surface finish, inconsistent application, and compromised durability. The foam can be …

Organic coatings are used in multiple applications, many we are aware of, such as paints and some most people are unaware of such as in aluminum interior can coatings.  For the sake of clarity, all the coatings discussed in this series will be organic-based and may be referred to simply as “coatings.”  Coatings are generally […] The post Organic Coatings: Part One, Introduction to Polymeric Coati…

The previous post described the chemistry and formulations using Recyclamine® hardeners.  This post will discuss the process to chemically remove the cured network from the glass fabric reinforcement. Dubey et. al., describes the details of a formulation specifically designed for wet lay-up resin transfer molding RTM [1]. The recyclable RTM formulation was used to produce […] The post Thermoset R…

The previous five posts discussed the end-of-life considerations using thermosets with covalently adaptive networks termed vitrimers.  The next two posts will cover the chemical degradation approach to thermoset recycling.  As shown schematically in Figure 1, there are multiple approaches to degrade fully cured thermoset networks. Figure 1. Schematic of chemical degradation methods for recycling …

In previous posts, the chemistry, and viscoelastic properties of vitrimers were presented.  This post will discuss how vitrimers can be used in production to form thermoset parts/composites that can be reprocessed at end-of-life. For a network that contains covalent adaptive networks, as the temperature increases, exchange reactions such as transesterification in epoxy anhydride networks can […] …

The previous post described the work of Liebler [1] who showed both epoxy carboxylic acid networks and epoxy anhydride networks contained covalent adaptive networks that underwent transesterification reactions at elevated temperatures (i.e. vitrimers). The unique discovery in both epoxy systems was the viscoelastic behavior at elevated temperatures.  Vitrimers are covalently bonded crosslinked ne…

The last post introduced vitrimers.  This post will provide more detailed information regarding the chemistry of the covalent adaptive networks in vitrimers. In Leibler’s pioneering work, the cured network contained a covalent adaptive network (CAN). Figure 1. Schematic approach to vitrimers [1] In Figure 1, there are two types of covalent adaptive networks (CANs): associative […] The post Thermo…

There are many emerging approaches to chemically recycling thermoset resins.  This post will present an overview of the current approaches to address the end-of-life considerations in thermoset materials. Figure 1 shows a schematic of the various approaches used to address the thermoset recycling challenge. Figure 1. High level chemical recycling pathways [1] The upper portion […] The post Thermo…

This post is part one of a multiple part series on the topic of end-of-life considerations for thermosets.  There is currently a lot of discussion in the press regarding recycling, ocean plastic, littering, and other considerations regarding how to handle plastics after their original use.  This series will focus only on thermosets, which up until […] The post Thermoset Re-use and Recycling – Par…

Guest post by Jeremy Pasatta, Advanced Polymer Coatings The previous two blog posts have looked at both the fundamentals of toughening thermosets as well as one of the most common technologies used to toughen thermosets – Reactive Liquid Polymers and CTBN.  In this blog post, we’ll look at toughening thermosets with coreshell particles. Coreshell particles […] The post Toughening Thermosets with …

Guest post by Jeremy Pasatta, Advanced Polymer Coatings Thermosets such as epoxies, vinyl esters, cyanate esters, and benzoxazines give excellent properties such as chemical and thermal resistance, dimensional stability, high modulus and good adhesion to a variety of substrates.  These properties are in part due to the crosslink density of the thermoset, where in general […] The post The Need for…