Curing reactions in elastomers. II. Carboxy-terminated polybutadiene

Abstract

Attempts have been made to understand the curing reactions in carboxy-terminated polybutadiene (CTPB), which happens to be the most practical binder in advanced solid composite propellants. The curing of CTPB has been studied for different ratios of curing agents (MAPO and Epoxide) by gel content, molecular weight, crosslink density, and penetration temperature measurements, and the optimum composition of curators for effective curing of CTPB has been determined. Activation energy calculations on the curing of CTPB with 9.5% epoxide and 0.5% MAPO in the temperature range 75–100°C gave 14.1 kcal/mol for which a diffusion-controlled or acid-catalyzed epoxide ring opening mechanism has been suggested for the curing process in CTPB.