Polymerization Kinetics of Cyanate Ester Confined to Hydrophilic Nanopores of Silica Colloidal Crystals with Different Surface-Grafted Groups.

This study investigates the kinetics of confined polymerization of bisphenol E cyanate ester in the nanopores of the three types of silica colloidal crystals that differ in the concentration and acidity of the surface-grafted proton-donor groups. In all three types of pores, the polymerization has released less heat and demonstrated a very similar significant acceleration as compared to the bulk process. Isoconversional kinetic analysis of the differential scanning calorimetry measurements has revealed that the confinement causes not only a dramatic change in the Arrhenius parameters, but also in the reaction model of the polymerization process.