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A.D. Tran, P. Knaack, N. Klikovits, R. Liska:
"Radical induced cationic frontal polymerizationfor epoxy-composites";
Vortrag: ICCST 12th International Conference on Composite Science and Technology, Sorrento, Italy; 08.05.2019 - 10.05.2019; in: "ICCST 12th International Conference on Composite Science and Technology", (2019), S. 53.

Radical induced cationic frontal polymerization (RICFP) is an elegant technique to cure epoxy
resin. Combining advantages of thermal curing and photopolymerization like fast curing, low
energy consumption, and long pot-life makes the RICFP beneficial in bulk curing. The
formulation for RICFP consists of epoxy monomer, e.g. bisphenol-A-diglycidylether
(BADGE), tetraphenyl-1,2-ethanediol (TPED) as a radical thermal initiator, and antimonate or
aluminate based diaryl iodonium salts as a photo acid generator. The presence of the two
initiators allows the RICFP to be initiated by UV light or a thermal stimulus. The so liberated
acid initiates a cationic ring opening polymerization of the epoxy rings of the resin. This
exothermic reaction generates the heat necessary to cleave the radical thermal initiator, which
provides radicals that can undergo a redox reaction with the photo acid generator causing again
acid liberation (Fig.1a, c) [1,2].
Fig.1 Mechanism and scheme of RICFP (a, c), RICFP conducted under water (b), composites
cured by RICFP and QR code for video of fiber reinforced composite manufacturing (d).
With these advantages, the RICFP deserves to be deeply investigated for manufacturing o f
composite. Promising results show RICFP was successfully conducted for composites with high
content of various fillers and fibers (Fig.1d). Furthermore, recently the RICFP can be carried
out even when submerged under water (Fig.1b). This invention can be used for applications,
such as filling underwater cracks in bridge pillars or dams, or repairing pipes during ongoing
operation.

Radical induced cationic frontal polymerization, Frontal polymerization, Epoxy resin, Composites, Fiber reinforced polymer composites