Curing Behavior Of Epoxy Research Articles

Model-free cure kinetics of tetra-functional epoxy reinforced with GO and p-Phenylenediamine modified GO

Tetra-functional epoxy was reinforced with graphene oxide (GO) and p-Phenylenediamine functionalized graphene oxide (fGO). FTIR and XPS analysis of fGO confirmed the attachment of amine groups on its surface. Data obtained from nonisothermal DSC scans of neat epoxy and epoxy modified with 0.1 and 0.5 wt.% GO and fGO was studied to evaluate the effect of filler content and chemistry on the curing behavior of epoxy. Cure analysis was performed quantitatively using the integral isoconversional method to identify the dependence of activation energy (Eα) on conversion. Eα for neat epoxy increased with increase in conversion, possibly because at higher conversions, reactions such as etherification and homo-polymerization controlled the reaction kinetics. The addition of GO and fGO both displayed a lower activation energy in the conversion range α = 0.5−0.9 as compared to neat epoxy. The activation energy of fGO reinforced epoxy remained almost constant with change in conversion. This behavior was attributable to the amine groups attached to the surface of the filler, which acted as a secondary hardener and triggered the epoxide ring opening reaction. This fact was supported by the comparative XPS analysis of fGO and curing agent which clearly indicated the compositional similarities between the two. Further the autocatalytic model was used to determine reaction parameters. The overall order of the curing reaction was more than unity throughout, indicative of a complex reaction mechanism.

A study on the cure characteristics of epoxy/diaminodiphenylmethane system prepared at room temperature

AbstractThe curing behavior and kinetics of epoxy resin with diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) as the curing agent was studied by many researchers, however all of them prepared the system at a high‐temperature condition (i.e., T ≥ 80°C). In this study, a mixture of epoxy/DDM was prepared at ambient temperature and its curing characteristics were studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The autocatalytic model was used to calculate the kinetic factors in the dynamic experiments. The kinetics of the curing reaction was also evaluated by two different isoconversional models; namely Friedman method and the Advanced Isoconversional method proposed by Vyazovkin to investigate the activation energy behavior during the curing reaction. The activation energy of the curing reaction was found to be in the range of 48 ± 2 kJ/mol and might be considered to be constant during the curing. In fact, our findings were different from the result reported by other researchers for the system which was prepared at elevated temperature. Therefore, it seems that the preparation temperature of the samples influenced considerably on the curing behavior of epoxy with DDM. Finally, a time–temperature–transformation (TTT) diagram was established to determine the cure process and glass transition properties of the system. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010

Cure behavior of epoxy resin/CdS/2,4-EMI nanocomposites investigated by dynamic torsional vibration method (DTVM)

Epoxy resin/CdS nanocomposite was prepared by a novel method and its cure behavior was investigated by the HLX-II Resin Curemeter based on the dynamic torsional vibration method (DTVM). The non-equilibrium thermodynamic fluctuation theory, the Avrami equation and the Flory’s gelation theory have been used to analysis the cure behavior of the composite systems with different CdS and cure agent loadings at various temperatures. The results show that the addition of CdS nanoparticles reduces the gel time tg, but has little effect on the mechanism of the cure reaction. The theoretical prediction is in good agreement with the experimental results. The Avrami exponent of n decreases a little when the temperature increases.

Cure behavior of epoxy resin/MMT/DETA nanocomposite

The Flory's gelation theory, non-equilibrium thermodynamic fluctuation theory and Avrami equation have been used to predict the gel time tg and the cure behavior of epoxy resin/organo-montmorillonite/diethylenetriamine intercalated nanocomposites at various temperatures and organo-montmorillonite loadings. The theoretical prediction is in good agreement with the experimental results obtained by dynamic torsional vibration method, and the results show that the addition of organo-montmorillonite reduces the gelation time tgand increases the rate of curing reaction, the value of k, and half-time of cure after gelation point t1/2 decreases with the increasing of cure temperature, and the value of n is ~2 at the lower temperatures (<60°C) and decreases to ~1.5 as the temperature increases, and the addition of organo-montmorillonite decreases the apparent activation energy of the cure reaction before gelation point, but has no apparent effect on the apparent activation energy of the cure reaction after gelation point. There is no special curing process required for the formation of epoxy resin/organo-montmorillonite/diethylenetriamine intercalated nanocomposite.

Differential scanning calorimetric study on the curing behavior of epoxy resin/diethylenetriamine/organic montmorillonite nanocomposite

AbstractThe curing mechanisms and kinetics of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A with diethylenetriamine as the curing agent and different amounts of organic montmorillonite were examined with isothermal and dynamic scanning calorimetry. The modified Avrami equation was used to calculate the activation energy and reaction orders in the isothermal experiment. A single peak was observed in each dynamic scan. The curing mechanism and kinetics of the curing reaction were also analyzed by two kinds of methods—Kissinger and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa. The results obtained from those methods under dynamic measurement agreed with those obtained from the modified Avrami equation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 378–386, 2003