Stress-relaxing thermosets with easily regulated bond exchange kinetics

Abstract

We have carried out stress-relaxation experiments on poly(acrylate) and poly(thiol-ene) based thermosets prepared from in-house synthesized epoxy-acid adducts with acrylate (for the former) and ene functionalities (for the latter). The adducts contain disulphide bonds at their center which allow their cured thermosets to undergo disulphide metathesis when heated above a certain temperature [1]. The possibility of concurrent transesterification, albeit at a significantly lower rate, between ester and hydroxyl moieties present in the components is not discarded