Curing kinetics of epoxy resins

Curing kinetics of some epoxy systems was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry. We examined the influence of a few nitrogenous curing agents with different chemical structures on the rate of curing; different levels of the accelerator were tested. We also investigated the influence of two different resins on the rate of curing. The calorimetric measurements were performed in isothermal conditions and at different scanning rates. The experimental plot of the curing rate was checked by comparison with some theoretical equations, and information was collected on activation energies, reaction orders, and temperature influence.