Isothermal Kinetics of Epoxyphosphazene Cure

Abstract

The influence of epoxycyclophosphazene modifier on the process of epoxy-amine curing was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The study revealed that the curing process of epoxyphosphazene binders with 4′4′diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) provides more complete curing of the formulations in comparison with ones applying low molecular-weight polyamide curing agent (L-20). The isothermal kinetics of curing was described by means of model fitting and the isoconversional approach (Friedman method). Accurate n-order approximation was obtained for all systems under study. In particular, the 2-order equation fits well with the main part of curing excluding high degrees of conversion. The process of curing could be distinguished into three zones. The transition from zone 2 to zone 3 correlates with gelation. According to the isoconversional analysis by Friedman method, the diffusion-controlled mechanism is found at final stage of curing.

Keywords

• epoxy resins
• epoxyphosphazenes
• kinetics of curing
• isoconversional kinetics
• model fitting