UNCROSSLINKED EPOXIDE-AMINE ADDITION POLYMERS, 45 - LINEAR ADDITION POLYMERIZATION OF 2,2-BIS[4-(2,3-EPOXYPROPOXY)PHENYL]PROPANE AND ARYLAMINES IN HIGHLY CONCENTRATED-SOLUTIONS

In highly concentrated solutions (40 to 70 wt.-%) such as in chloroben zene (CB) or 2-methoxyethanol (ME) the addition polymerization of 2,2- bis [4-(2,3 -epoxypropoxy)phenyl] propane (DGEBA) and disecondary diam ines leads to high molecular weight linear addition polymers. The broa d molecular weight distribution ((M) over bar(w)/(M) over bar(n) = 4 t o 17) is caused by the formation of cyclic oligomers. After precipitat ion in acetone, (M) over bar(w)/(M) over bar(n) values of 2.8 to 3.4 w ere obtained which indicate a regular linear step-growth polymerizatio n. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) investigations show that CB retards the addition polymerization, whereas ME exhibits an accelerat ion of the polymerization. The suggested kinetic model describes the r eaction behavior over the whole range of polymerization by one paramet er set only. In order to find the optimum parameters, the set of diffe rential equations was solved numerically by multivariate non-linear re gression. An excellent agreement between calculated and experimental c urves was found.