SYNOPSISThe cure reaction of a model diglycidyl ester, bis-(2,3-epoxypropyl) -1,3-benzenedicarboxylate, with hexahydrophthalic anhydride as the curing agent and benzyldimethylamine as the catalyst, was studied by differential scanning calorimetry using an isothermal approach over the temperature range 100-135°C. The results indicate that the cure reaction is autocatalytic in nature and does not follow simple nth-order kinetics. A semiempirical equation for autocatalytic systems containing two rate constants and two reaction orders, viz., 0.5 and 1.5, provided a good phenomenological description of the cure kinetics up to the point of vitrification. With the inclusion of a diffusion factor into this model, it was, however, possible to predict with precision the cure kinetics over the whole range of conversion covering both pre-and postvitrification stages and over the entire temperature range of 100-135°C employed for isothermal curing.
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