KINETIC AND THERMODYNAMIC STUDIES OF AN EPOXY SYSTEM DIGLYCIDYL ETHEROF BISPHENOL-A 1,2 DIAMINE CYCLOHEXANE/

The curing reaction of a system consisting of a purified diglycidyl et her of bisphenol-A (BADGE, n = 0) and 1,2 diamine cyclohexane (DCH) wa s studied with a differential scanning calorimeter. The objective of t his article was twofold: a kinetic study from which parameters such as reaction orders, rate constants, and activation energies were determi ned; and a thermodynamic study where values of enthalpy (Delta H-#), e ntropy (Delta S-#), and Gibbs free energy (Delta G(#)) changes were ca lculated. This second study showed that an n-order path reaction mecha nism was more favored than the autocatalyzed mechanism above 338 K. Th is fact was also checked when plotting rate constant ratio against tem perature. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.