Kinetics of Curing and Thermal Degradation of POSS Epoxy Resin/DDS System

• Published in: International journal of polymeric materials Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 65 - 77
• Main Authors: Gao, Jungang, Jiang, Chaojie, Zhang, Xuejian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2007; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Chemical properties; cure kinetics; epoxy resin; Exact sciences and technology; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Properties and testing; silsesquioxanes; Technology of polymers; thermal degradation; Polyfunctional compound; Silsesquioxane polymer; Reaction order; Epoxy resin; silsesquioxanes; Curing (plastics); Experimental study; Thermal stability; Thermosetting resin; Thermal properties; Diamine; Polyhedral molecule; cure kinetics; Kinetics; Activation energy; Thermal degradation
• ISSN: 0091-4037; 1563-535X
• DOI: 10.1080/00914030600710620

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes epoxy resin (POSSER) was prepared from 3-glycidypropyl-trimethoxysilane (GTMS) and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) by hydrolytic condensation. POSSER was characterized using Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 1 H-NMR, and liquid chromagraphy/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). The epoxy value of POSSER is 0.50 mol/100 g. The LC/MS analysis indicated that T 10 is the majority and contain some amount of T 8 , besides, a trace T 9 also exists. The curing kinetics of POSSER with 4,4′-diaminodipheny sulfone (DDS) as a curing agent was investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The curing reaction order n is 0.8841 and the activation energy Ea is 61.06 kJ/mol from dynamic DSC analysis. Thermal stability and kinetics of thermal degradation were also studied by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). TGA results indicated that the temperature of POSSE/DDS system 5% weight loss is approximately 377.0°C, which is higher by 12.6°C than that of pure POSSER, and the primary degradation reaction (300-465°C) followed first order kinetics; the activation energy of degradation reaction is 75.81 kJ/mol.