CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CURE PROCESS IN MELAMINE-FORMALDEHYDE LAMINATING RESINS USING HIGH-PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)-a tool for characterizing the cure process in thermosetting polymers-was used to study melamine-form aldehyde resin systems. High-pressure DSC was required to monitor the resin's condensation polymerization to its final, infusible state. The activation energy of the cure was derived using ASTM E 698 methodolog y. Application of first-order reaction kinetics to the resin system ov erestimated the observed conversion. A reaction order of n = 1.49 was obtained for the noncatalyzed resin system by applying raw scan data a nd the derived activation energy to a general nth-order kinetic model. The same approach was used to evaluated the influence of an acid cata lyst on the cure process.