| Abstract: | Kinetics of simultaneous interpenetrating networks (SIN) composed of a polyurethane resin (PU) and an unsaturated polyester resin was studied. A differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) was used to monitor the polymerization course. It was found that increasing the polyester content in a PU-polyester SIN enhanced the polymerization of PU due to the “solvent effect” of polyester. On the other hand, increasing the PU content in the SIN retarded the polymerization of polyester due to the “cage effect” of PU. Polymerization sequence of the SIN could be controlled by employing different initiators for polyester reaction. The degree of crosslinking in each SIN component had a significant effect on the dynamics of the SIN formation and on the limiting conversion of the polyester reartion. |
