The Curing Kinetics Analysis of Four Epoxy Resins Using a Diamine Terminated Polyether as Curing Agent

Diamine terminated polyether (DAPE) is used as a novel curing agent for ductile epoxy resins. To investigate the curing kinetics, non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests were conducted to investigate four ductile epoxy/DAPE systems, including tetraglycidyl-4,4'-diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM)/DAPE, diglycidyl 4,5-epoxycyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (TDE-85)/DAPE, triglycidyl-p-aminophenol (TGPAP)/DAPE and hydantoin epoxy resin (HER)/DAPE systems. According to the Malek method, the four epoxy systems suit the Sestak-Berggren kinetic model (SB (m,n)). The SB (m,n) model can well fit the curing reaction of all epoxy systems. By applying the Friedman method, the activation energies (E-a) at different conversion (alpha) were calculated, which provide an insight of curing mechanism of the flexible curing agent for ductile epoxy resins.

Automated summary

Diamine terminated polyether (DAPE) is used as a novel curing agent for ductile epoxy resins. By conducting non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests and applying mathematical models, the curing kinetics of four ductile epoxy/DAPE systems were investigated. The results show that the Sestak-Berggren kinetic model can well fit the curing reaction of all epoxy systems.