Effect of enzymatically hydrolyzed lignin on the curing characteristics of epoxy resin/polyamine blends

Corn stalk enzymatically hydrolyzed lignin (EHL) was used to modify bisphenol A-type epoxy resin. The curing reaction processes of the epoxy resin/polyamine blends and the lignin/epoxy resin/polyamine blends were studied via isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the effect of enzymatically hydrolyzed lignin on the curing reaction of epoxy resin was also analyzed. The results showed that the curing kinetics for two blends were not in full compliance with the autocatalytic curing kinetic model, especially the lignin/epoxy resin/polyamine blends. The apparent activation energy of the epoxy resin/polyamine blends increased with the increased presence of the lignin. The presence of enzymatically hydrolyzed lignin was beneficial to the curing process of epoxy resin/polyamine blends at high temperatures. The addition of the lignin increased the final curing reaction conversion rate, improved the glass transition temperature (Tg) and increased the bending strength for the epoxy resin/polyamine blends. However, the impact strength decreased in this process.