Abstract
This research presents a cure kinetics study of an epoxy system consisting of a partially bio-sourced resin based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) with amine hardener and a biobased reactive diluent from plants representing 31 wt %. The kinetic study has been carried out using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) under non-isothermal conditions at different heating rates. Integral and derivative isoconversional methods or model free kinetics (MFK) have been applied to the experimental data in order to evaluate the apparent activation energy, Ea, followed by the application of the appropriate reaction model. The bio-sourced system showed activation energy that is independent of the extent of conversion, with Ea values between 57 and 62 kJ·mol−1, corresponding to typical activation energies of conventional epoxy resins. The reaction model was studied by comparing the calculated y(α) and z(α) functions with standard master plot curves. A two-parameter autocatalytic kinetic model of Šesták–Berggren [SB(m,n)] was assessed as the most suitable reaction model to describe the curing kinetics of the epoxy resins studied since it showed an excellent agreement with the experimental data.
Highlights
Epoxy resins are low molecular weight pre-polymers with at least one epoxide group in their structure
A two-parameter autocatalytic kinetic model of Šesták–Berggren [SB(m,n)] was assessed as the most suitable reaction model to describe the curing kinetics of the epoxy resins studied since it showed an excellent agreement with the experimental data
Conclusions cure kinetics of a partially bio‐based resin derived from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)
Summary
Epoxy resins are low molecular weight pre-polymers with at least one epoxide group in their structure. These epoxy rings are usually located in terminal positions due to the high reactivity of this position [1]. Epoxy resins are the most used thermosetting resins due to the huge range of properties they can cover such as tensile strength, high adhesion strength, low shrinkage, good chemical resistance, and low volatile emission, among others [2,3,4,5] These outstanding properties make these resins suitable for high technological sectors such as the automotive and aerospace industries. The final properties of a structural epoxy system are greatly influenced by several factors, which include the chemical structure of both the epoxy resin and the curing agent and external factors related to the curing procedure
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