Combination of high-performance refractometry and infrared spectroscopy as a probe for chemically induced gelation and vitrification of epoxies

A combination of infrared spectroscopy and high-performance refractometry was used to investigate the chemically induced sol-gel and glass transition during the polymerization of epoxies. Representations of the refractive index versus chemical conversion reveal an interesting insight into the optical properties accompanying gelation and vitrification. Whereas the electronic polarizability of the liquid state of small average molecular mass and the glassy state is dominated by the mass density, an unexpected excess polarizability observed during the gelation is attributed to cooperative dipole-dipole interactions.