Kinetic and Chemical Effects of Clays and Other Fillers in the Preparation of Epoxy-Vinyl Ether Composites Using Radical-Induced Cationic Frontal Polymerization.

Addition of fillers to formulations can generate composites with improved mechanical properties and lower the overall cost through a reduction of chemicals needed. In this study, fillers were added to resin systems consisting of epoxies and vinyl ethers that frontally polymerized through a radical-induced cationic frontal polymerization (RICFP) mechanism. Different clays, along with inert fumed silica, were added to increase the viscosity and reduce the convection, results of which did not follow many trends present in free-radical frontal polymerization.