Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, Vol.37, No.16, 3233-3242, 1999
Kinetics study of imidazole-cured epoxy-phenol resins
The reaction kinetics of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) cured with different concentrations of imidazole and bisphenol A (BPA) were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry. Both dynamic and isothermal DSC were studied. Two initiation mechanisms were found to play roles in the-curing reactions. One was based on adduct formation of epoxy groups with pyridine-type nitrogen and the other was based on ionic complexes of imidazole and BPA. The subsequent propagation was composed of three main reactions, viz. the epoxide/phenol reaction, the acid/base reaction, and the epoxide/R-O- reaction. A generalized kinetics model was developed and used to predict the conversion of epoxide groups using a wide range of imidazole and BPA concentrations, and cure temperature.