Analysis of the cure kinetics of epoxy/imidazole resin systems

Abstract

Abstract The reaction kinetics for the cure of epoxy resins with imidazoles were determined from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry studies. The diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A and phenyl glycidyl ether were cured with various concentrations of 2‐ethyl‐4‐methyl‐imidazole ranging from 4.0 to 100.0 mol %. The first step in the curing process is the formation of epoxide/imidazole adducts. These adducts initiate the etherification reaction which crosslinks the resin. The kinetics were determined and confirmed for both the adduct and the etherification reactions as a function of the imidazole concentration. A model was developed and used to predict the concentrations of the unreacted epoxide groups and the reaction products for a wide range of imidazole concentrations and cure temperatures.