Study on curing kinetics of epoxy-amine to reduce temperature caused by the exothermic reaction

• Published in: Thermochimica acta Vol. 692; p. 178735
• Main Authors: Ran, Zhipeng, Liu, Xiaobing, Jiang, Xiaolian, Wu, Yeping, Liao, Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.10.2020
• Subjects: amides; amines; bisphenol A; curing (nonfood products); curing agents; Curing kinetics; epoxy compounds; Epoxy-amine; Exothermic curing reaction; heat production; Mechanical properties; reaction kinetics; resins; temperature; Epoxy-amine; Mechanical properties; Exothermic curing reaction; Curing kinetics
• ISSN: 0040-6031; 1872-762X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tca.2020.178735

•FT-IR, non-isothermal and isothermal DSC are used to study curing kinetics.•Acid amide structures of amine hardener reduce exothermic temperature of curing.•Lower exothermic temperature results in more homogenous mechanical properties. Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin is cured by two typical diethylene triamine-derived curing agents which have a versamid structure (VDETA) and a butyl ether structure (BDETA) in their molecules respectively, and the exothermic curing kinetics of epoxy/amine is studied by non-isothermal, isothermal DSC and in-situ FT-IR methods. It is found that VDETA hardens epoxy resin more gently with little heat accumulation while BDETA leads to explosive increase of temperature caused by the exothermic reaction, and the dramatic temperature gradient heavily decreases homogeneity of mechanical properties. Kinetic studies reveal that VDETA containing acid amide structure is favorable to reduce the temperature and increase the homogeneity of the mechanical properties.