Cure Kinetics and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of an Epoxy/Polyoxypropylene Diamine System

The cure kinetics of a bisphenol A epoxy resin and polyoxypropylene diamine curing agent system are investigated in both dynamic and isothermal conditions by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In dynamic experiments, the shift of exothermic peaks obtained at different heating rates is used to obtain activation energy of overall cure reaction based on the methods of Ozawa and Kissinger. Isothermal DSC data at different temperatures are fitted to an autocatalytic Kamal kinetic model. The kinetic model is in a good agreement with the experimental data in the initial stage of cure. A diffusion effect is incorporated to describe the later stage of cure, predicting the cure kinetics over the whole range of curing process. Also, dynamic mechanical analysis is performed to evaluate the storage modulus and average molecular weight between crosslinkages.