Frontal polymerization accelerated by continuous conductive elements

ABSTRACT Frontal polymerization (FP), a propagating reaction wave driven by exothermic polymerization, is increasingly considered for the rapid fabrication of fiber‐reinforced composites. However, the effect of the fibers on the FP reaction has not yet been explored. In this contribution, we demonstrate that thermally conductive continuous elements accelerate FP using an experimental model system and finite‐element‐based numerical simulations. Furthermore, the degree of acceleration is shown to be affected by the amount of available monomer in the system. These results suggest that thermally conductive carbon fiber reinforcement may facilitate FP for composite manufacturing. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47418.