Kinetics of Zinc Octoate/Nonylphenol Catalysed Thermal Cure of Bisphenol a Dicyanate

The kinetics of the Zinc octoate/nonylphenol catalysed thermal cure of bisphenol A dicyanate (BACY) was investigated using non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The kinetic parameters were estimated by the methods of Coats-Redfern (C-R) and Roger and Kissinger. The overall reaction conformed to first order kinetics. The calculated activation energy (E) and pre-exponential factor (A) depended on the analytical approach. However, the variation in activation energy was associated with a proportional change in A, rendering the overall rate constants nearly identical and independent of the analytical method for a given system. The presence of catalyst enhanced the rate constant. The apparent activation energies, normalised to a fixed A value, were practically identical for a given system, implying the existence of a kinetic compensation effect. The activation energy decreased with increasing catalyst concentration. The variation in activation energy with conversion for a given catalyst concentration was within the kinetic compensation limit for a given system. The activation parameters were used to predict the cure profile of the resin under given conditions of temperature and catalyst concentration.