Abstract: The isothermal cure kinetics of the epoxy resin (EP)/montmorillionite composites, with anhydride as curing agent, was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the effects of original montmorillionite (MMT) and organic montmorillion (OMMT) on cure kinetics of epoxy resin were investigated. Analysis of DSC data indicated that curing process of the epoxy resin contains autocatalytic mechanism, the addition of the montmorillionite to the epoxy resin does not change the cure reaction mechanism. The curing process of the EP/montmorillionite composites was simulated by Kamal equation. Two reaction orders, m and n, and two rate constants, k1 and k2 were obtained. The overall reaction order, m + n, is in the range 2.4～3.0. The addition of the MMT to the epoxy resin decreases rate constants k1 and k2, but the OMMT makes rate constants k1 and k2 complicated. The cure activation energy of the epoxy resin varies slightly by the addition of montmorillionite.

Key words: Epoxy resin, Methyl tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, Montmorillionite, Cure kinetics