Stoichiometric mixtures of DGEBA (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol Al)/DD
S (di-aminodiphenyl sulfone) and DGEBA/mPDA (meta phenylene diamine) h
ave been isothermally cured by electromagnetic radiation and conventio
nal heating using thin film sample configurations. Fourier transform i
nfrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to measure the extent of cure. Th
ermal mechanical analysis (TMA) was used to determine the glass transi
tion temperatures directly from the cured thin film samples. Well-defi
ned glass transitions were observed in the TMA thermograph for both th
ermal and microwave cured samples. Significant increases in the reacti
on rates have been observed in the microwave cured DGEBA/DDS samples.
Only slight increases in the reaction rates have been observed in the
microwave cured DGEBA/mPDA samples. Higher glass transition temperatur
es were obtained in microwave cured samples compared to those of therm
ally cured ones after gelation. The magnitude of increases of glass tr
ansition temperature is much larger for the DGEBA/DDS system than DGEB
A/mPDA system. The microwave radiation effect was much more significan
t in DGEBA/DDS system than in DGEBA/mPDA system. DiBenedetto's model w
as used to fit the experimental T(g) data of both thermal and microwav
e cured epoxy resins.