Cure kinetics and morphology of blends of epoxy resin with poly (ether ether ketone) containing pendant tertiary butyl groups

The cure kinetics and morphology of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resin modified with a poly (ether ether ketone) based on tertiary butyl hydroquinone (PEEK-T) cured with diamino diphenyl sulphone (DDS) were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). The results obtained from DSC were applied to autocatalytic and diffusion controlled kinetic models. The reaction mechanism broadly showed autocatalytic behaviour regardless of the presence of PEEK-T. At higher PEEK-T concentration, more diffusion controlled mechanism was observed. The rate of curing reaction decreased with increase in thermoplastic content and also with the lowering of curing temperature. The activation energies of the blends are higher than that of the neat resin. The blends showed a phase separated morphology. The dispersed phase showed a homogeneous particle size distribution. The T_g of the neat resin decreased with the decrease in cure temperature. Two T_g's corresponding to the epoxy rich and thermoplastic rich phases were observed in the dynamic mechanical spectrum. The storage modulus of 10 and 20 phr PEEK-T blends are found to be greater than the neat resin.