Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.70, No.10, 1931-1938, 1998
Effects of diffusion on the kinetic study and TTT cure diagram for an epoxy/diamine system
The curing reactions of an epoxy system consisting of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (BADGE n = 0) and 1,2-diamine cyclohexane (DCH) were studied to determine a time-temperature-transformation (TTT) isothermal cure diagram for this system. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and a solubility test were used to obtain the different experimental data reported. Two models, one based solely on chemical kinetics and the other accounting for diffusion, were used and compared to the experimental data. The inclusion of a diffusion factor in the second model allowed for the cure kinetics to be predicted over the whole range of conversion covering both pre- and post-vitrification stages. The investigation was made in the temperature range 60-100 degrees C, which is considered optimum for the isothermal curing of the epoxy system studied.