TABLE OF CONTENTS Ralph E.Wright
R.E.Wright Associates
Yarmouth, Maine
One definition of resin is any class of solid, semi-solid, or liquid organic material, generally the product of natural or synthetic origin with a high molecular weight and with no melting point. The 10 basic thermosetting resins all possess a commonality in that they will, upon exposure to elevated temperature from ambient to upward of 450 F, undergo an irreversible chemical reaction often referred to as polymerization or cure. Each family member has its own set of individual chemical characteristics based on its molecular makeup and its ability to either homopolymerize, copolymerize, or both.
This transformation process represents the line of demarcation separating the thermosets from the thermoplastic polymers. Crystalline thermoplastic polymers are capable of a degree of crystalline cross-linking, but there is little, if any, of the chemical cross-linking that occurs during the thermosetting reaction. The important beneficial factor here lies in the inherent enhancement of thermoset resins in their physical, electrical, thermal, and chemical properties due to that chemical cross-linking polymerization reaction which, in turn, also contributes to their ability to maintain and retain these enhanced properties when exposed to severe environmental conditions.
The most broadly used allyl resins are prepared from the prepolymers of either DAP or DAIP, which have been condensed from dibasic acids. The diallyl phthalate monomer is an ester produced by the esterification process involving a reaction...
