Kinetic studies of the effect of ABS on the curing of an epoxy/cycloaliphatic amine resin

Using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), we have studied, under isothermal and dynamic conditions, the kinetics of the cure reaction for an epoxy resin based on the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) modified with different contents of acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) and cured with 1,3‐bisaminomethylcyclohexane (1,3‐BAC). Kinetic analysis were performed using three kinetic models: Kissinger, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa, and the phenomenological model of Kamal as a result of its autocatalytic behavior. Diffusion control is incorporated to describe the cure in the latter stages, predicting the cure kinetics over the whole range of conversion. The total heats of reaction were not influenced by the presence of ABS. The autocatalytic mechanism was observed both in the neat system as well as in its blends. The reaction rates of the blends and the maximum conversions reached did not change too much with the ABS content. Blending ABS within the epoxy resin does not change the reaction mechanism of the epoxy resin formation. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 351–361, 2000     

High melting thermoplastic/epoxy resin blends: Influence of the curing reaction on the crystallization and melting behavior

The influence of the cure process and the resulting reaction‐induced phase separation (RIPS) on the crystallization and melting behavior of polyoxymethylene (POM) in epoxy resin diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) blends has been studied at different cure temperatures (180 and 145 °C). The crystallization and melting behavior of POM was studied with DSC and the simultaneous blend morphology changes were studied using OM. At first, the influence of the epoxy monomer on the dynamically crystallized POM was investigated. Secondly, a cure temperature above the melting point of POM (T_cure = 180 °C) was applied for blends with curing agent to study the influence of resulting phase morphology types on the crystallization behavior of POM in the epoxy blends. Large differences between particle/matrix and phase‐inverted structures have been observed. Thirdly, the cure temperature was lowered below the melting temperature of POM, inducing isothermal crystallization prior to RIPS. As a consequence, a distinction was made between dynamically and isothermally crystallized POM. Concerning the dynamically crystallized material, a clear difference could be made between the material crystallized in the homogeneous sample and that crystallized in the phase‐separated structures. The isothermally crystallized POM was to a large extent influenced by the conversion degree of the epoxy resin. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2456–2469, 2007     

Curing reaction of biphenyl epoxy resin with different phenolic functional hardeners

The investigation of cure kinetics and relationships between glass transition temperature and conversion of biphenyl epoxy resin (4,4′-diglycidyloxy-3,3′,5,5′-tetramethyl biphenyl) with different phenolic hardeners was performed by differential scanning calorimeter using an isothermal approach over the temperature range 120–150°C. All kinetic parameters of the curing reaction including the reaction order, activation energy, and rate constant were calculated and reported. The results indicate that the curing reaction of formulations using xylok and dicyclopentadiene type phenolic resins (DCPDP) as hardeners proceeds through a first-order kinetic mechanism, whereas the curing reaction of formulations using phenol novolac as a hardener goes through an autocatalytic kinetic mechanism. The differences of curing reaction with the change of hardener in biphenyl epoxy resin systems were explained with the relationships between T_g and reaction conversion using the DiBenedetto equation. A detailed cure mechanism in biphenyl-type epoxy resin with the different hardeners has been suggested. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 773–783, 1998     

Modeling the curing kinetics for a modified bismaleimide resin

The kinetics of curing for a modified bismaleimide (BMI) has been investigated to ascertain a suitable cure model for the material. The experimental data for characterizing the curing kinetics for a modified bismaleimide resin were determined using a DSC isothermal scan method and indicated a curing mechanism involving multiple reactions. The reaction process was shown to be dominated by a different mechanism at different stages of the cure process, with an initial autocatalytic reaction shifting into an nth order reaction as the reaction proceeded. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 907–913, 2000     

酸酐固化环氧树脂/蒙脱土复合材料的等温固化动力学

用等温差示扫描量热法(DSC)研究了酸酐固化环氧树脂/蒙脱土复合材料的等温固化过程，考察了未处理的蒙脱土(MMT)和有机蒙脱土(OMMT)对环氧树脂固化动力学的影响. 实验表明， 环氧树脂的固化过程包含自催化机理，加入蒙脱土没有改变固化反应机理. 用Kamal方程对该体系的固化过程进行拟合，得到反应级数m、n，反应速率常数k1、k2，总反应级数(m + n)在2.4～3.0之间. MMT的加入使环氧树脂体系的k1、k2有所降低，而OMMT的加入对体系的k1、k2影响较为复杂，加入蒙脱土对环氧树脂固化体系的活化能影响较小.     

Isothermal cure kinetics of epoxy/phenol‐novolac resin blend system initiated by cationic latent thermal catalyst

The investigation of the cure kinetics of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)/phenol‐novolac blend system with different phenolic contents initiated by a cationic latent thermal catalyst [N‐benzylpyrazinium hexafluoroantimonate (BPH)] was performed by means of the analysis of isothermal experiments using a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Latent properties were investigated by measuring the conversion as a function of curing temperature using a dynamic DSC method. The results indicated that the BPH in this system for cure is a significant thermal latent initiator and has good latent thermal properties. The cure reaction of the blend system using BPH as a curing agent was strongly dependent on the cure temperature and proceeded through an autocatalytic kinetic mechanism that was accelerated by the hydroxyl group produced through the reaction between DGEBA and BPH. At a specific conversion region, once vitrification took place, the cure reaction of the epoxy/phenol‐novolac/BPH blend system was controlled by a diffusion‐control cure reaction rather than by an autocatalytic reaction. The kinetic constants k₁ and k₂ and the cure activation energies E₁ and E₂ obtained by the Arrhenius temperature dependence equation of the epoxy/phenol‐novolac/BPH blend system were mainly discussed as increasing the content of the phenol‐novolac resin to the epoxy neat resin. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 2945–2956, 2000     

Cure kinetics of epoxy resin-natural zeolite composites

The cure kinetics of epoxy resin and epoxy resin containing 10 mass% of natural zeolite were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The conformity of the cure kinetic data of epoxy and epoxy-zeolite system was checked with the auto-catalytic cure rate model. The results indicated that the hydroxyl group on the zeolite surface played a significant role in the autocatalytic reaction mechanism. This group was able to form a new transition state between anhydride hardener and epoxide group. The natural zeolite particles acted as catalyst for the epoxy system by promoting its curing rate.     

Cure kinetics of biphenyl epoxy‐phenol novolac resin system using triphenylphosphine as catalyst

The effects of the concentration of triphenylphosphine as a catalyst on the cure reaction of the biphenyl epoxy/phenol novolac resin system were studied. The kinetic study was carried out by means of the analysis of isothermal experiments using a differential scanning calorimeter. All kinetic parameters including the reaction orders, activation energy and kinetic rate constants were evaluated. To describe the cure reaction with the catalyst concentration, the normalized kinetic model was developed. The suggested kinetic model with a diffusion term was successfully able to describe and predict the cure reaction of epoxy resin compositions as functions of the catalyst content and temperature. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 713–720, 1999     

THE MECHANISM OF CURE REACTION OF 4,4''''-DIAMINODIPHENYL METHANE WITH TETRAGLYCIDYL 4,4''''-DIAMINODIPHENYL METHANE EPOXY

The cure reaction of tetraglycidyl 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM) epoxy resin with 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl methane (DDM) has been studied by using DSC. Instead of one exothermic peak, two exothermic peaks, indicative of a complex reaction mechanism, are shown in the DSC curve of TGDDM-DDM mixtures in nonisothermal cure experiments when the content of DDM is lower than stoichiometric ratio. The result of the kinetic analysis of the cure reaction shows that the activation energy of the lower temperature exotherm peak is about 56 kJ/mol and that of the higher temperature exotherm peak is about 136 kJ/mol. The lower temperature cure reaction peak can be attributed to the primary amine-epoxide and secondary amine-epoxide reactions, and the higher temperature cure reaction peak can be attributed to the epoxide-hydroxy reaction under catalysis of tertiary amine in the TGDDM epoxy resin. Because the network density of the cured epoxy resin is determined by these two reactions, the content of DDM has little effect on the glass transition temperature of cured epoxy resin.     

Kinetics study of imidazole-cured epoxy-phenol resins

The reaction kinetics of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) cured with different concentrations of imidazole and bisphenol A (BPA) were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry. Both dynamic and isothermal DSC were studied. Two initiation mechanisms were found to play roles in the curing reactions. One was based on adduct formation of epoxy groups with pyridine-type nitrogen and the other was based on ionic complexes of imidazole and BPA. The subsequent propagation was composed of three main reactions, viz. the epoxide/phenol reaction, the acid/base reaction, and the epoxide/R-O⁻ reaction. A generalized kinetics model was developed and used to predict the conversion of epoxide groups using a wide range of imidazole and BPA concentrations, and cure temperature. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3233–3242, 1999     

UV-curable epoxy systems containing hyperbranched polymers: Kinetics investigation by photo-DSC and real-time FT-IR experiments

The effect of the presence of a hyperbranched OH-functionalized polymer (HBP) on the kinetics of cationic photopolymerization of an epoxy system was investigated employing two complementary techniques, photo-DSC and real-time FT-IR spectroscopy.Lower rates of cross-linking reactions and higher conversion degrees were obtained in photo-DSC experiments with respect to real-time FT-IR spectroscopy. A limited amount (10% wt) of HBP influenced to a certain extent the cure kinetics of the epoxy resin followed by RT-IR; a final conversion of epoxy groups equal to 100% was achieved by increasing the content up to 20% wt The addition of 10% wt of HBP leaves the cure kinetics of the CE resin studied by p-DSC almost unchanged. By increasing the HBP content, a slightly lower reaction rate is observed at lower reaction times. The presence of the HBP produced a continuous decrease of the T_g of the UV-cured epoxy resin but only modest reductions in its thermo-oxidative stability.     

Near‐infrared spectroscopic studies on the cure behaviors of the CAE/DGEBA blend system initiated by a thermal latent catalyst

The latent properties and cure behaviors of an epoxy blend system based on cycloaliphatic epoxy (CAE) and diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy containing N‐benzylpyrazinium hexafluoroantimonate (BPH) as a thermal latent initiator were investigated with near‐infrared (N‐IR) spectroscopy. The assignments of the latent properties and cure kinetics were performed by the measurements of the N‐IR reflectance for epoxide and hydroxyl functional groups at different temperatures and compositions. As a result, this system showed more than one type of reaction, and BPH was an excellent thermal latent catalyst without any coinitiator. The cure behaviors were identified by the changes in the absorption intensity of the hydroxyl groups at 7100 cm⁻¹ with different composition ratios. Moreover, characteristic N‐IR band assignments were used to evaluate the reactive kinetics and were shown to be an appropriate method for studying the cure behaviors of the CAE/DGEBA blend system containing a thermal latent catalyst. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 39: 326–331, 2001     

Curing kinetics and mechanism of bisphenol S epoxy resin with 4,4′‐Diaminodiphenyl ether or phathlic anhydride

The kinetics of the cure reaction for systems of bisphenol‐S epoxy resin with 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl ether or phthalic anhydride as a curing agent were investigated with a differential scanning calorimetry. Autocatalytic behavior was shown in the first stages of the cure for the systems, which could be well described by the model proposed by Kamal [Polym Eng Sci 1973, 13, 59–64] that includes two rate constants k₁ and k₂ and two reaction orders, m and n. k₁ and k₂ values are observed to increase with the increasing temperature. With the proceeding of the cure reaction, the cross‐linking structure appears, and the reaction is mainly controlled by diffusion in the latter stages. The molecular mechanism of the curing system was discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 33: 558–563, 2001     

Mechanism Studies on Water Sorption and Permeation in Epoxy Resin by Impedance Spectroscopy. II. Cure Kinetics of O-Cresol Novolac Resin with Esterfied Phenol Novolac Resin

Abstract

To study the effect of water affinity of the cured epoxy resin on water sorption and permeation in the cured epoxy resin, a novel hardener (esterfied phenol novolac was synthesized and used for obtaining the cured product without free hydroxyl group. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used to study the cure kinetics of o-cresol novolac epoxy resin using esterfied phenol novolac resin as curing agent in the presence of 2-methylimidazole as accelerator. Some kinetic parameters of the curing reaction such as the reaction order, activation energy, and frequency factor were obtained in the temperature range studied. The results show that this curing process is a first-order kinetic mechanism, which was different with that cured with phenol novolac resin.     

Effect of Non-Woven Carbon Nanofiber Mat Presence on Cure Kinetics of Epoxy Nanocomposites

Summary : An investigation was carried out into the cure kinetics of carbon nanofiber (CNF) mat-epoxy nanocomposites, composed of bisphenol-A based epoxy resin and diethylene triamine as a curing agent. It was observed that the rate of cure reaction for CNF mat-epoxy nanocomposites was higher than that for neat epoxy resin at low curing temperatures and the presence of the CNF mat produced the maximum influence at a certain curing temperature and time. At high curing temperature and long curing times, the effect of CNF mat on the cure rate was insignificant. The CNF mat-epoxy composite exhibited somewhat lower value of activation energy than that of the neat epoxy system at the beginning of the curing stage. The weight fraction of CNF mat also affected the cure reaction of epoxy nanocomposites at the same curing temperature. As the amount of CNF mat increased, the cure rate was higher at the same cure time. However, at high CNF mat loading, the cure reaction was retarded since the amount of epoxy and hardener decreased dramatically at high CNF contents together with the hindering effect of the CNF mat on the diffusion of epoxy resin and the curing agent, leading to lower crosslinking efficiency. Although the curing efficiency of epoxy nanocomposites dropped at high CNF mat content, the glass transition temperature (T_g) was still high due to the ultra-high strength of the CNF mat. The cure kinetics of CNF mat-epoxy nanocomposites was in good agreement with Kamal's model.     

Synthesis and characterization of liquid crystalline epoxy and co-polymerisation with a non-mesomorphic epoxy resin

A novel liquid crystalline epoxy resin based on the imine group was synthesised and structurally characterised by infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The mesogenic behaviour of the monomer was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarised optical microscopy (POM), and presented various textures in the extensive temperature range. Methyl nadic anhydride (MNA) was employed to cure the liquid crystalline epoxy resin and the curing process was investigated using POM and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). Information about distribution of liquid crystalline epoxy resin in the blending system resulted from the FT-IR Imaging System, indicating that molecules of liquid crystalline epoxy resin can agglomerate to form anisotropic domains. The improvement in mechanical properties of diglycidyl ether of biphenol A (DGEBA) modified with liquid crystalline epoxy was achieved. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) showed that an extremely rough and highly deformed fracture surface can be obtained. DGEBA modified with liquid crystalline epoxy resin was characterised by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) for its thermal properties. The results indicate that the presence of the liquid crystal phase influences glass transition temperature (Tg).     

Kinetics studies on the accelerated curing of liquid crystalline epoxy resin/multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposites

A new class of nanocomposite has been fabricated from liquid crystalline (LC) epoxy resin of 4,4′‐bis(2,3‐epoxypropoxy) biphenyl (BP), 4,4′‐diamino‐diphenyl sulfone (DDS), and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The surface of the CNTs was functionalized by LC epoxy resin (ef‐CNT). The ef‐CNT can be blended well with the BP that is further cured with an equivalent of DDS to form nanocomposite. We have studied the curing kinetics of this nanocomposite using isothermal and nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The dependence of the conversion on time can fit into the autocatalytic model before the vitrification, and then it becomes diffusion control process. The reaction rate increases and the activation energy decreases with increasing concentration of the ef‐CNT. At 10 wt % of ef‐CNT, the activation energy of nanocomposite curing is lowered by about 20% when compared with the neat BP/DDS resin. If the ef‐CNT was replaced by thermal‐insulating TiO₂ nanorods on the same weight basis, the decrease of activation energy was not observed. The result indicates the accelerating effect on the nanocomposite was raised from the high‐thermal conductivity of CNT and aligned LC epoxy resin. However, at ef‐CNT concentration higher than 2 wt %, the accelerating effect of ef‐CNTs also antedates the vitrification and turns the reaction to diffusion control driven. As the molecular motions are limited, the degree of cure is lowered. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Study on curing reaction of epoxy resin modified with prepolymers containing spiro orthocarbonate

Prepolymers were prepared by the reaction of 3,9-dihydroxyethyl-3′9′-dibenzyl-1,5,7,11-tetraoxaspiro(5,5)undecane with 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and 1,6-hexa-methylene diisocyanate (HDI). The number-average molecular weights of the prepolymers can be controlled by changing the mole ratios of spiro compound and diisocyanates. Kinetic studies of the cure reaction for the epoxy resin system modified with or without prepolymers were followed by a HLX-1 dynamic torsional vibration apparatus. The results indicated that gel time (t_g) and activation energy (E_a) increased as the content of prepolymers in the epoxy resin system increased. A difference with the cure reaction of the pure epoxy resin, the second-order reaction for the epoxy resin modified with the prepolymers, was obtained. Rate constants (k) of the cure reaction are 0.231 min^?1 for the epoxy resin, and 0.312 min^?1 for the modified epoxy resin. The mechanism of the cure reaction was discussed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Reinforcing thermosets with crystallizable solvents

This study demonstrates an approach to generate reinforcement in thermosetting polymers through crystal growth of crystallizable solvents. Emphasis is to identify the reaction conditions, which lead to suitable reinforcement in selected compounds. Crystallization behavior and miscibility of dimethylsulfone (DMS) in diglycidylether of bisphenol‐A epoxy monomer was investigated. Small angle laser scattering and optical microscopy were utilized to monitor phase separation and crystallization of DMS at different isothermal conditions during the cure process. It is shown that DMS crystals grow anisotropically to form faceted geometries and demonstrate possible structures to anchor into the epoxy matrix. The growth mechanism and the agility of crystals are shown to be affected by the cure reaction as well as depth of supercooling. A completely cured sample with 15 wt % DMS shows a broad map of rich morphologies from nanoscale particles to uniformly distributed macroscale, discontinuous fiber‐like crystals generated only by altering the curing conditions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 840–849, 2010