Thermal degradation kinetics of trimellitimide-based epoxy-imide resins: structural influences on multistage behavior
摘要
The present study focuses on the dynamic thermal degradation kinetics of a series of trimellitimide (TMI) derived epoxy-imide (EI) resins incorporating aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, and aromatic moieties, compared with triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC). Isoconversional kinetic analysis was performed on non-isothermal thermogravimetric data to obtain the dependence of activation energies (Eα) on conversion (α). Given the multistage nature of the degradation processes, mathematical deconvolution analysis (MDA) was employed to separate overlapping thermal events. The reaction model analysis indicated that each stage follows a quasi-autocatalytic (quasi-AC) mechanism. Accordingly, reaction orders were determined using the truncated Šesták–Berggren model. Our findings demonstrated that in all EI systems, autocatalytic characteristics increased with the progress of degradation, while nth-order behavior diminished. The intensity of these fluctuations was inversely related to the melting temperature of the base resins, following the trend in diglycidyl esters: 1,6-hexamethylene bis(TMI) > 1,3-bis(methyl-TMI) benzene > 1,3-bis(methyl-TMI) cyclohexane.