Kinetic study by FTIR and DSC on the cationic curing of a DGEBA/γ-valerolactone mixture with ytterbium triflate as an initiator

A mixture of diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and γ-valerolactone (γ-VL) was cured in the presence of ytterbium triflate as an initiator to obtain poly(esther-ether) thermosets. The kinetics of the various elemental reactions, which take place during the curing process, was studied by means of isothermal curing in the FTIR spectrometer. The kinetic parameters were calculated by means of the isoconversional procedure and the best-fit kinetic model was determined with the so-called compensation effect (isokinetic relationship). The isothermal kinetic analysis was compared with that obtained by dynamic curing in DSC.