Cure kinetics of epoxy resins and aromatic diamines

Abstract

Abstract An analysis of the cure kinetics of several different formulations composed of bifunctional epoxy resins and aromatic diamines was performed. A series of isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) runs (at higher temperature) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) runs (at lower temperature) provided information about the kinetics of cure in the temperature range 18–160°C. All kinetic parameters of the curing reaction, including the reaction rate order, activation energy, and frequency factor were calculated and reported. Dynamic and isothermal DSC yielded different results. An explanation was offered in terms of different curing mechanisms which prevail under different curing conditions. A mechanism scheme was proposed to account for various possible reactions during cure.