STUDY ON CO-CURING REACTION OF GLYCIDYL DIBROMOPHENYL ETHER AND BISPHENOL-A EPOXY RESIN BY FT-IR

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR)spectroscopy was used to determine the reaction rate of glycidyl dibromophenyl ether(G-48)with methyl tetrahydrophthalic anhydride(THPA) and to compare it with that of the bisphenol-A epoxy resin(E-39)with THPA. The comparison of the reaction rates of the two systems showed that they were noticeably different in various temperature ranges.The apparent energies of activation of the two systems were approximately equal.The curing process of a system composed of a mixture of G-48 and E-39 with THPA as curing agent also was studied by FT-IR.It has been found that the curing behavior of G-48/E-39 with THPA matched the reaction characteristics of the combination of E-39 and G-48 reacting alone with THPA. The curing mechanism of G-48/F-39 mixture system with THPA was proposed.