Solid state NMR investigation of cationic polymerized epoxy resins

Abstract
Cationic UV‐polymerized resins, based on cycloaliphatic epoxides with aryl sulfonium salts as photoinitiators and polypropylene glycols of variable length as flexibilizers, have been investigated with respect to the network‐forming reactions and the morphology of the resulting polymers. The combination of UV‐curing and thermal postcure makes the chemical process complex and dependent on many variables, such as photoinitiator, exposure time, reaction temperature, and polyol components. Structure and curing of the epoxide were investigated by 13C CPMAS NMR. Morphology and domain sizes were studied by spin diffusion experiments using the novel “dipolar filter” technique for selective magnetization of mobile components.