Kinetic studies of the effect of ABS on the curing of an epoxy/cycloaliphatic amine resin

Abstract

Using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), we have studied, under isothermal and dynamic conditions, the kinetics of the cure reaction for an epoxy resin based on the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) modified with different contents of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and cured with 1,3-bisaminomethylcyclohexane (1,3-BAC). Kinetic analysis were performed using three kinetic models: Kissinger, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, and the phenomenological model of Kamal as a result of its autocatalytic behavior. Diffusion control is incorporated to describe the cure in the latter stages, predicting the cure kinetics over the whole range of conversion. The total heats of reaction were not influenced by the presence of ABS. The autocatalytic mechanism was observed both in the neat system as well as in its blends. The reaction rates of the blends and the maximum conversions reached did not change too much with the ABS content. Blending ABS within the epoxy resin does not change the reaction mechanism of the epoxy resin formation.