STUDY ON CURING KINETICS OF EPOXY RESIN WITH DENDRITIC POLYMER PAMAM BY ISOTHERMAL DSC

The curing reaction kinetics of epoxy resin and dendritic polymer PAMAM was investigated under isothermal curing condition using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) at 60、65、70 and 75℃. It was found that the curing reaction of the PAMAM and epoxy resin system have autocatalyzed controlled characteristics. All parameters of isothermal curing kinetics were determined by an autocatalytic mechanism proposed by Kamal eqution. The overall reaction order m+n was between 2.13 and 2.21, and the apparent activation energies of E1 and E2 were 52.65 kJ/mol and 65.47 kJ/mol. Since, in the later curing stage, the curing reaction was affected by the diffusion-controlled, and the effect of the diffusion was much evident at a lower temperature, a diffusion factor f(α) was introduced into the Kamal model. The revised cure kinetic model agreed better with the whole curing process, especially in the later curing stage controlled by diffusion.