Dynamic cure kinetics of epoxy–novolac compounds as studied by differential scanning calorimetry

The cure kinetics of epoxy–novolac compounds were studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry with a dynamic approach. On the basis of a modified version of our previously reported kinetic model, a procedure aiming at the phenomenological description of the cure kinetics was developed. The reactions were found to be autocatalytic in nature for both commercial epoxy–novolac molding compounds and silica-free imidazole-cured epoxy–novolac systems. The weak extent of autocatalysis in the epoxy–novolac molding compounds was likely due to their high content of silica fillers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009