Novel thermosetting resins based on 4-(N-maleimido)phenylglycidylether - III. Studies on the thermal degradation kinetics and mechanisms of the cured resins

摘要

The thermal degradation kinetics and mechanisms of thermosetting resins based on 4-(N-maleimido)phenylglycidylether (MPGE) were investigated with TGA, GC/MS, and FTIR. Two samples from MPGE cured with 4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) and diethylphosphite (DEP), respectively, were studied. The MPGE based resins showed good thermal stability over conventional epoxy resins. The degradation of MPGE-DEP was found to be initially triggered at the phosphonic ester linkage, while MPGE-DDM reacted at the epoxy linkage. Introducing phosphorus therefore significantly altered the patterns, activation energies, and mechanisms of the degradation reactions of the MPGE resins. This change caused the MPGE-DEP resin to show good thermal stability, high activation energies of degradation, and enriched char formation. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.