Influence of physical structuring on the kinetics of the epoxy-amine reaction in filled systems

The influence of aerosils with a hydroxylated (A-175) and methylated (MAS-200m) surface on the kinetics of the reaction of an epoxy oligorner with diamine was studied by the DTA technique. It was shown that the introduction of aerosils increases the initial rate of cure of the epoxy-amine system. It was found that the reaction of epoxy with amino groups at the initial curing step (alpha < 0.30) in filled systems is a kinetically controlled process. At deeper steps of curing of filled systems (alpha = 0.30-0.60), the kinetics of epoxy-amine condensation is described in terms of the cage model, and the effective rate constant depends on the viscosity of the reaction medium.