Measurement of glass transition temperature, residual heat of reaction and mixing ratio of epoxy resins using near infrared spectroscopy: a preliminary study

As a measure of the degree of curing of epoxy resins, the glass transition temperature, Tg, and the residual heat of reaction, DeltaHr, are often used. In this study, near infrared spectroscopy and multivariate calibration (partial least squares regression (PLSR)) have been used to monitor the two variables, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as the reference method. The epoxy under study was a commercial system consisting of the resin, trimethylolpropanetriglycidylether, and the hardener, 3-aminomethyl-3,5,5,-trimethylcyclohexylamine. Using samples cured under different conditions, calibrations resulted in root mean square errors of cross-validation (RMSECV) of 18 J/g for DeltaHr (range for Hr: 6.1-231.3 J/g) and 7.2ºC for Tg (range for Tg: 41.5-98.8ºC). Also, a PLSR model for mixing ratio of hardener and resin was obtained, resulting in a RMSECV of 0.0040 (range for mixing ratio: 0.180-0.380)