| Abstract: | The cure process of a BADGE (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A) resin (Epon 828) and ethylenediamine has been investigated by means of calorimetry and dielectrometry in the microwave region (107–1010 Hz) in the temperature range 50 to 70°C. Kinetic data from calorimetry were analyzed in detail. An overall kinetic order of 2.5 has been obtained. The time domain reflectometry (TDR) has been used to characterize pure components and their mixtures. Cure monitoring was carried out with both TDR and a cavity method at fixed frequency (9.5 × 109 Hz). A very good agreement was obtained between the reaction rate as measured by calorimetry and the rate of decrease of dielectric constants up to very high conversion. This was explained by admitting that the rates of disappearance of dielectric dipoles and of reactive species coincided. |
