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Curing reaction of epoxy resins with diamines
The curing reaction of a commercial bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) with ethylenediamine (EDA) was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Different kinetic expressions were found with isothermal (low temperature range) and dynamic (high temperature range) runs. Two competitive mechanisms are shown to be present: an autocatalytic one (activation energy E = 14 kcal/mol) and a noncatalytic path characterized by a second-order reaction with E = 24.5 kcal/mol. At low temperatures both mechanisms took place simultaneously, showing a significant decrease in the reaction rate after the gel point. At high temperatures only the noncatalytic reaction was present, without showing a noticeable rate decrease in the rubber region. Also, a third-order dependence of the glass transition temperature on reaction extent is shown.
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