Effect of moisture content on curing kinetics of agglomerate cork

The curing process of Toluene 2,4-DiIsocyanate (TDI) pre-polymer with granulate cork is significantly affected by the cork moisture content since the reaction of isocyanate is highly sensitive to water. Two types of moisture are considered: the moisture contained inside the granulate cork, residual moisture, and the moisture intentionally sprayed over the granules of cork, added moisture. This study analyses the curing kinetics of TDI and granulate cork mixtures containing added moisture using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and the reaction rate increase associated with the added moisture content (AMC). The underlying objective of this work is to reduce the time needed to obtain agglomerate cork stoppers through AMC increase.