## 3 Results and Discussion
### Dynamic Mechanical Analysis and Thermogravimetry
It is possible that covalent bonding occurs between defect sites on the CNTs and the resin components through possible free radical reactions during the conventional cure of the materials due to the extended heating at elevated temperatures, altering the dynamics of the regular matrix-reinforcement interactions for the system. Along the same lines, it is speculated that the slight difference in \(T_{\mathrm{g}}\) between the unreinforced resin cured in the oven and in the microwave lies in the cure mechanism being different in the two processes. A much deeper investigation of the cure mechanisms, which is beyond the intended scope of the current manuscript, is necessary in order to fully understand this phenomenon. Better suited, single-component systems might allow for a clearer analysis of the problem. It is important to highlight, however, that the difference in \(T_{\mathrm{g}}\) is only 3.9 \({}^{\circ}\)C (Table 2, entries 1 and 6). Thermogravimetric analysis was used to assess differences in thermal stability between samples cured in a convection oven and under microwaves with varying amounts of CNTs (Table 2, Figure 9). The temperatures at which 90 wt % (\(T_{90}\)) and 50 wt % (\(T_{50}\)) of the samples remain during the thermal degradation are presented in Table 2. It can be observed that, for CNT composites cured under microwaves, increasing CNT loadings result in an increase in \(T_{90}\) (entries 2-5, Table 2), suggesting that the addition of CNTs result in materials that start degrading at a higher temperature when compared to their CNT-free counterparts. When \(T_{50}\) is considered, a very similar trend is observed, with the only exception being the samples containing 0.1 wt % CNTs and 0.2 wt % CNTs (entries 3 and 4, Table 2), for which no appreciable difference was detected. When a sample devoid of CNTs is cured under microwaves, its resulting thermal stability is very similar to that of a sample cured in a convection oven, with \(T_{90}\) varying only by 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and \(T_{50}\) being exactly the same (entries 1 and 6, Table 2). The difference in the resulting thermal stability of samples cured under microwaves with and without CNTs, indicates that a different polymerization process occurs depending on the presence of CNTs. As discussed earlier, the localized heat generated by the absorption of microwaves by CNTs prompts the simultaneous growth of multiple polymer chains, which results in a matrix with lower molecular weight, and lower thermal stability. The addition of CNTs to the resin, for samples cured exclusively in a convection oven, does not impart a significant change in \(T_{90}\) and \(T_{50}\), with changes of only 3 \({}^{\circ}\)C in both cases (entries 6 and 7, Table 2). This expected behavior confirms that CNTs have no effect in the heating process taking place in the convection oven, acting more as a reinforcement than as a heating agent. Due to the small CNT loading used, no significant difference was observed in the thermal stability of the two samples cured exclusively in a convection oven (entries 6 and 7, Table 2).