<i>In Situ</i> Spectroscopic Study of Microwave Polymerization

Abstract

Microwaves provide a commercially advantageous method of rapidly curing polymeric samples. Curing times of several hours with traditional ovens are easily reduced to several minutes by microwave curing. Many commonly used sample monitoring probes (e.g., thermocouples) contain metallic elements that are incompatible with microwave processing. Such accelerated polymer processing via rapid microwave heating would benefit from rapid in situ monitoring techniques using optical spectroscopy.