Re-examination of the Crosslinking Process in Styrene-Unsaturated Polyester Systems

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Abstract
The network structure of a range of styrene-unsaturated polyester networks was investigated by degradative and spectroscopic studies, sol-gel analysis, and dynamic mechanical measurements. The results show that in addition to styrene-fumarate copolymerization, a fumarate-fumarate crossiinking reaction occurs when the styrene concentration is low. The extent of this reaction was found to be dependent on the proximity of the fumarate units to one another, and on the curing conditions employed. Although the sol-gel studies were qualitatively consistent with these observations, a quantitative analysis was not successful due to deviations of the polyester networks from the model.