| Abstract: | The effect of surface treatment of particulates on the curing kinetics of unsaturated polyester resin has been investigated using a differential scanning calorimeter. Two coupling agents, γ-methacryloxy propyltrimethoxy silane (γ-MPS) and phenyltriethoxy silane (PTS), were employed. The former reacted with the resin; the latter did not. A kinetic model of free radical addition polymerization was used. A correction factor was used to represent the effective free radical concentration in order to account for the formation of charge transfer complex between the glass beads and the free radicals in the resin. The results indicate that (1) the resin with treated particulates showed generally faster reaction rate and conversion than the resin with untreated particulates; (2) no obvious difference on the curing kinetics was observed between these two coupling agents; the primary role of coupling agent is to inhibit the influence of particulates on the curing kinetics of the resin by effective surface coverage; and (3) a minimum aqueous concentration of 0.05 wt% was suggested for surface treatment of particulates; the reaction rate of the resin was slightly improved when the concentration of the coupling agent was 0.01 wt%; this might possibly be due to insufficient coverage of the particulate surface. |
