Chemical process of converting a
prepolymer or a polymer into a polymer of higher molar mass and
connectivity and finally into a network.
Notes:
- Curing is typically accomplished by chemical reactions induced by heating (thermal curing), photo-irradiation (photo-curing), or electron-beam irradiation (EB curing), or by mixing with a chemical curing agent.
- Physical aging, crystallization, physical crosslinking, and post-polymerization reactions are sometimes referred to as 'curing'. Use of the term 'curing' in these cases is discouraged.
- See also: vulcanization
Source:
PAC, 2004, 76, 889
(Definitions of terms relating to reactions of polymers and to functional polymeric materials (IUPAC Recommendations 2003))
on page 892
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A.Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.
