The curing of a mesomorphic epoxy has been studied by polarized light microscopy (PLM) and differential scanning calorimetry. PLM in combination with wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction proves the formation of a liquid crystalline (LC) structure. An advanced isoconversional method reveals that the formation of the LC structure is accompanied by a dramatic decrease in the effective activation from ∼60 to ∼10 kJ · mol−1. A kinetic model of the phenomenon has been discussed.
The dependence of the activation energy on the extent of conversion for isothermal curing of the diglycidyl ether of 4,4′‐dihydroxybiphenyl/2,6‐diaminopyridine (diamonds) and DGEBA/2,6‐diaminopyridine (circles) systems.
