EFFECT OF COPPER OXIDES ON THE THERMAL OXIDATIVE-DEGRADATION OF THE EPOXY-RESIN

The effect of copper oxides on the thermal oxidative degradation of a brominated epoxy resin-dicyandiamide system was studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The addition of small amounts of Cu2O or CuO fillers to the epo xy resins affected the relative amounts of highly reacted cyclic speci es formed during thermal aging and induced catalytic degradation of th e epoxy resins. The overall and initial activation energies of the deg radation process were found to decrease, and the order in the degradat ion kinetics of the epoxy resin changed from a near zero order to nega tive domain (autocatalytic nature) in the presence of copper oxides. ( C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.