Comparison of microwave and thermal cure of unsaturated polyester resin

Abstract

A commercial unsaturated polyester resin, Beetle R 8592 from BIP Chemical Limited has been cured using a microwave oven. Thermal curing was also carried out as a comparative study. The cured resins were compared using differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, solid state NMR spectroscopy, and flexural properties. The DSC analysis showed that microwave curing was much faster than thermal curing. However, within the limits of experimental error, it was found that the shear modulus, the number average molecular weight M _c, flexural modulus and strength were not significantly different. Solid state NMR also showed similar spectra for both microwave and thermal cured samples, which suggests that the same curing reactions took place in each case.

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