The adsorption and curing behaviors of the epoxy/amidoamine system in the presence of metal oxides

The curing and adsorption behaviors of an epoxy/amidoamine system under the influence of iron, aluminum, and zinc oxides are studied by using differen tial scanning calorimetry (DSC) and diffuse reflectance infrared spectrosco py (DRIFT). From DRIFT, it is obtained that the amidoamine curing agent is preferentially adsorbed on the three metal oxide surfaces. The amount of am idoamine adsorbed is in the order of iron oxide > zinc oxide > aluminum oxi de. Moreover, the iron and zinc oxides adsorb resins more firmly than the a luminum oxide. The results of DSC analyses indicate that more amine related exotherms are found in the specimen filled with the iron oxide but more am ide related exotherms are found in the zinc oxide added specimens and they are related to the difference in the preferential adsorption found on three metal oxides. The curing characteristics are also changed in the presence of metallic fillers and the greatest change is obtained from the specimen c ontaining the iron oxide.