The mechanism and kinetics of the epoxide-amine polyaddition reaction
have been studied by isothermal and scanning DSC measurements. The ini
tial concentrations of the reactants (epoxides: bisphenol-A-diglycidyl
ether (DGEBA) and phenyl glycidyl ether (PGE), amines: N,N'-dibenzyle
thylenediamine (DBED) and aniline) in our model systems have been stro
ngly varied. The suggested kinetic model describes the reaction behavi
or of mixtures with any initial epoxide/amine ratios over the whole ra
nge of cure by a single parameter set. To find the optimum kinetic par
ameters, we have solved the set of differential equations numerically
by the technique of multivariate non-linear regression (Mult-NLR). Exc
ellent agreement was obtained between calculated and experimental curv
es. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.