Estimation of kinetic parameters for curing of epoxy-anhydride compositions by DSC

Abstract

The kinetics of the curing process of epoxy resin (ED-22) in the presence of the anhydride hardeners (iso-methyltetrahydrophthalic anhydride, hexahydrophthalic anhydride, and dodecylsuccinic anhydride) and accelerators (2-methyl imidazole and n-butyltriphenylphosphonium bromide) has been investigated by DSC method in the dynamic mode. Processing of experimental DSC thermograms recorded at different heating rates was carried out within the frameworks of isoconvertional analysis in two versions, namely "model-free" method of Friedman and the Ozawa—Flynn—Wall method. The possibility to describe the kinetics of epoxy compositions curing in the frameworks of one-step autocatalytic reaction model has been demonstrated. Obtained kinetic parameters were used to predict the curing kinetics under isothermal conditions and for comparative analysis of the compositions.