Influence of the epoxy functionalization of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (E-MWCNTs) on the isothermal cure kinetics

Curing kinetics of epoxy resins have been studied with different techniques, such as FT-IR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC is used to determine the amount ofheat which is generated during the curing reaction. Isothermal studies are used effectively to determine the rate of heatgeneration as a function of time, which is needed for kinetic calculations. However, the curing kinetics of epoxy resins during nanocomposite formation has been less studied.Kinetic analysis of curing is usually described by the following fundamental equation: (1)      0 ( ) 0( ) TTKdtfg dThe kinetics parameters were obtained from isotheramal DSC data using Kamal autocatalytic kinetic model [1] and thermodynamic parameters were calculated using the kinetic parameters and transition state (TS) theory [2].