TGA/FT-IR membraned interface for polymer and composite process analysis

The use of the combined technique of TGA/FT-IR to obtain information on volatile evolution during cure and degradation was investigated in this work to provide an understanding of the chemical and physical phenomena that determine processing requirements of high temperature matrix composites. Both batch and real time TGA/FT-IR interfaces were examined. The types of TGA/FT-IR experiments were performed which lead to an analysis of the volatiles produced during cure and degradation of PMR-15 as they occur on-line or in a discontinuous, batch-type analysis. The techniques allow for analysis of the lower molecular weight gases with transmission FT-IR analysis while the higher molecular weight species are condensed onto a membrane and analyzed by a surface technique such as diffuse reflectance.