A study by gas chromatography of the kinetics of hardening of epoxide resins

The possibility of using gas chromatography for obtaining the kinetic constants of the process of hardening of thermoreactive compositions is discussed. Compositions based on the diphenylolpropane epoxide resin DER-332 and the two aromatic diamines 4,4′-diaminodiphenylsulphone and 4,4-diamino-3,3′-dichlorodiphenylmethane were hardened at 120°, 140°, 160° and 180°. The hardening process was investigated by two other (apart from chromatography) independent methods, i.e. by microcalorimetry and IR spectroscopy. Comparison of the kinetic constants obtained by the three methods showed that the results were in satisfactory agreement. It is reported that the chromatographic method enables a large amount of information to be obtained in the course of a single experiment.