Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Vol.21, No.2, 85-90, 2000
Kinetic analysis of isothermal cures performed below the limiting glass transition temperature
The paper addresses the problem of the application of iso-conversional kinetic analysis to incomplete cures. Contrary tot he expectations, a theoretical analysis suggests that correct estimates of the activation energy can be obtained if one uses the relative extents of cure instead of the absolute values. This conclusion is illustrated by simulated data for a hypothetical process and experimental data for epoxy-novolac cure.