Functional off-stoichiometry thiol-ene-epoxy thermosets featuring temporally controlled curing stages via an UV/UV dual cure process

We present a facile two-stage UV/UV activation method for the polymerization of off-stoichiometry thiol-ene-epoxy, OSTE+, networks. We show that the handling and processing of these epoxy-based resins is made easier by introducing a material with a controlled curing technique based on two steps, where the first step offers excellent processing capabilities, and the second step yields a polymer with suitable end-properties. We investigate the sequential thiol-ene and thiol-epoxy reactions during these steps by studying the mechanical properties, functional group conversion, water absorption, hydrolytic stability, and thermal stability in several different thiol-ene-epoxy formulations. Finally, we conclude that the curing stages can be separated for up to 24 h, which is promising for the usefulness of this technique in industrial applications.