Comparative study on the kinetic behavior of neat benzyl thiirane ether and benzyl glycidyl ether reacted with polyether amine

The neat episulfide of benzyl thiirane ether (BTE) resin was synthesized by the reaction of benzyl glycidyl ether (BGE) epoxy resin and KSCN under the microwave atmosphere at low temperature. The ring opening kinetic behaviors of neat BGE and neat BTE with polyether amine (D230) as the hardener were comparatively investigated by non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), and analyzed by the model-fitting Málek method and the model free advanced iso-conversional method of Vyazovkin. The results indicated that both BGE/D230 and BTE/D230 systems fitted Å esták-Berggren model well. The activation energy of neat BTE/D230 system (43.2 kJ/mol) was much lower than that of neat BGE/D230 system (58.7 kJ/mol). And, the m value in the Å esták-Berggren kinetic model equation for BTE/D230 system (m = 0.1902) is much higher than that for BGE/D230 system (m = 0.0512), indicating BTE/D230 system has much more autocatalytic effect and/or a secondary reaction initiated by the sulfhydryl groups, which generated from the ring-open reaction of thiirane groups.