Dielectric and rheological measurements are reported on the effect of cure temperature on the water absorption of tris[(2,3-epoxypropoxy)phenyl] methane cured with a 1 : 1 stoichiometric ratio of 4,4′-diaminodiphenylsulphone. Analysis of the water absorption characteristics of these materials using a combination of dielectric and gravimetric measurements has indicated that water molecules can be found in two distinctly different types of environments. There are water molecules which are strongly interacting with polar groups and water molecules clustered together into sub-micro-scale cavities within the matrix structure. Changes in the final cure temperature have the effect of changing both the extent and distribution of the types of water molecules present in the matrix. Validation of the diffusion coefficients obtained from the dielectric analysis is based on a comparison with gravimetric data and the implications are discussed. Differences observed between these two different types of measurement are related to peculiarity in the dielectric method and its extreme sensitivity to interfacial phenomena.
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Pethrick et al. (1996) studied this question.