High performance epoxy resins cured in the presence of BF3 catalyst

Dynamic mechanical experiments have been conducted on an epoxy system made with tetraglycidyl 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM) and polyglycidyl ether of Bisphenol A Novalac that were cured with 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS) in the presence of Boron trifluoride monoethylamine catalyst (BF3:EtNH2). As the concentration of BF3:EtNH2 increased, the low temperature β‐transition magnitude increased slightly. The α1‐transition observed in the uncatalyzed system decreased significantly with the addition of BF3:EtNH2 catalyst. The α2 or glass transition temperature of this system increased with increasing catalyst concentration. Both the catalyzed and uncatalyzed epoxy formulations studied in this work are important due to their similarity to systems used commercially in epoxy matrix composites.