SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND KINETIC-STUDY OF COMPATIBLE SINS BASED ON DIALLYL PHTHALATE AND EPOXY-RESIN

Diallyl phthalate (DAP) was blended with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) in various weight ratios: 100 / 0, 75 / 25, 50 / 50, 25 / 75, and 0 / 100. These blends were then cured simultaneously with dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) in conjunction with 2-cyanoethyl-4-methyl immidazole (EMI-CN, 0.5% as catalyst) to obtain simultaneous interpenetrating polymer networks (SIN's). H-bonding between DAP and DGEBA was detected with FTIR. The SIN's thus obtained were characterized with rheometric dynamic spectroscopy (RDS) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) to check the compatibility of components. Gel fractions were measured with a Soxhlet extractor. Viscosity increases of all SIN's were measured with a Brookfield viscometer at curing temperatures. Conversions of C = C and epoxide versus cure time were monitored with FTIR and kinetic parameters were calculated and discussed. Experimental results revealed that H-bonding in the DAP / DGEBA blends was evidenced from the shift of the IR band (nu(C=O)) to a lower wave number, as well as the shift of epoxide band (nu(DELTA)) to a higher wave number. Complete compatibility between DAP and DGEBA was supported from the single damping peak in DRS and single glass transition in DSC for each of SIN's. Cure dynamic DSC showed shifts of exothermic peaks to higher temperatures for all SIN's. During SIN formation, the slower viscosity increases of SIN's were found, compared with pure DAP and pure DGEBA, indicating retarded cure rates for all SIN's. In addition, lower gel fractions of SIN's were observed, indicating incomplete cure of SIN's. The retarded cure rate was further confirmed by kinetic study. Lower rate constants with higher activation energies for all SIN's were found. An effect of network interlock was proposed to account for these findings.