Influence of cooling rate and annealing on the DSC Tg of an epoxy resin

Glass transition temperature (Tg) is a key epoxy property and often being monitored in the production by the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) method in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry. The dual-effect of cooling rate and annealing on the endothermic peak in the DSC scan of CE-688 epoxy resin plays a big role in the DSC Tg evaluation. An improved DSC program was developed in order to minimize/eliminate the influence of endothermic peak. Meanwhile, the curing pressure also shows distinct effect on the Tg of the epoxy resin.