REAL-TIME MONITORING OF THE CURE REACTION OF A TGDDM/DDS EPOXY-RESIN USING FIBER OPTIC FT-IR

The feasibility of using remote FT-IR spectroscopy to monitor the gelation reaction of an epoxy resin used in advanced composite materials has been studied. The commercial epoxy resins MY720 and MY721, consisting mostly of tetraglycidyl 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM) were cured with diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) in a microcapillary cell connected to an FT-IR spectrometer by single silica fiber optics. By operating in the near-IR, direct measurement of the consumption of epoxide and primary amine and growth in hydroxyl groups was possible. It was found that the primary amine band at 5067 cm-1 was the most sensitive for rapid and accurate real-time monitoring of the cure reaction up to gelation. The temperature dependence of amine consumption from 135 to 180-degrees-C gave an activation energy of 70 kJ mol-1 for the cure reaction in agreement with DSC. Several artefacts involved in using fiber optic FT-IR in this way have been identified.