Kinetic method by using calorimetry to mechanism of epoxy-amine cure reaction

Abstract

Four epoxy-amine reactions differing a number of the functional groups are compared. It has been shown that the main features of kinetics are similar for a whole family of model reactions. In series of epoxy-amine reactions analyzed, the reaction between resorcinol diglycidyl ether and m-phenylenediamine is one where increasing the viscosity of the reaction mixture leads to its vitrification during the reaction. This reaction proceeds very rapid compared with the model reactions. We demonstrate that application of kinetic techniques to analytical problems is facilitated by an understanding of the reaction mechanism involved. We report that thermokinetic method can be used for finding the activation energy in similar epoxy-amine systems through the use of times to point of the maximum in the experimental curve of the heat release rate vs. time. Our results indicate that independent of the initial reagent ratio, the conversion at the peak rate in the total curve the heat release ranges from 47 to 49%.