Study on a Characterization Method of Curing Rate of UV Curing System Based on Rheokinetics

Curing rate is one of the most important performance parameters of UV curing system. During the curing process, curing degree is closely related to curing rate. Cross linking and curing degree of the system could be reflected by rheological characteristics. A method based on rheokinetics was used to characterize radical polymerization reaction which initiated by UV light. Changes of G’ (dynamic modulus) in every stage of curing process were real-time monitored by a rheometer equipped with UV curing accessory. The influence of varieties and contents of photo-initiators on curing process of polyester acrylates was studied. Associating conversion rate with dynamic modulus, a nonlinear kinetic equation was set up to describe the cure reaction. The results show that, this paper has put forward a method based on rheokinetics, to study the curing rate of UV curing system, and provided a new approach to study UV cure reaction.