Formation and properties of polymer networks

The systematic study of intramolecular reaction and gel points together with measurements of moduli of tri‐ and tetra‐functional end‐linked networks show that network imperfections always result from the gel‐gel intramolecular reaction which must occur when such networks are formed. Even in the limit of zero pre‐gel intramolecular reaction, post‐gel intramolecular reaction and network imperfections still persist (law‐of‐mass‐action effect) to give marked reductions in modulus, particularly for trifunctional networks.