Heated Stage IR Microscopy for Cure Studies of Polyimide Matrix Composites

The use of an Infrared reflectance microscope for following the cure of a polyimide prepreg was evaluated.With this method which incorporates a controlled heated stage to the IR microscope, the IR reflectance spectra of a prepreg sample can be obtained without any special preparation.A reasonable reproducibility and signal/ noise ratio was obtained by aligning the sample stage before initiating the IR scans.The IR reflectance spectra of the polyimide prepreg generated by the microscope were found to be in agreement with conventional transmission spectra of the neat resin except for differences in the baseline and the shape of the bands.The kinetics of the curing reaction in polyimide prepreg was elucidated based on interpretations of the generated reflectance spectra.In addition, a comparison of data generated with neat resin and prepreg samples elucidated the effects of carbon fibers on the cure kinetics of the polyimide matrix.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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