Rapid Determination of Cure Rate and Direct Identification of Spatial Variations in Cross Link Density

Abstract

Transition temperature microscopy (TTM) is a novel local thermal analysis technique that maps spatial variations in thermal properties on length scales from millimeters to nanometers. Traditional bulk thermal analysis provides a sample-averaged result and cannot generally supply sufficient information about complex structures or heterogeneities within polymeric systems. There currently exists a nanoscale thermal analysis (nanoTA) technique in which a nanoscale thermal probe heats a localized region on the sample surface to measure its thermal properties, including thermal transition temperatures like cure, crystalline melting points and glass transitions. TTM enables these nanoTA measurements to be carried out rapidly at a succession of points, thus creating automated high-resolution spatial maps of the thermal properties of a sample.