The decomposition of bisphenol a diglycidyl ether/alicyclic amine hardened networks in near-critical water

The decomposition of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether/alicyclic amine hardened networks in near-critical water was studied in this paper. It is possible to decompose thermosetting epoxy resin completely at 260 °C for 1 h with 1 g/5 ml feedstock ratio. The decomposition rate of epoxy resin increased with an increase in reaction temperature. The decrease in sample size led to higher decomposition rate, and the catalysts NH₄Cl and H₂SO ₄ had the higher positive effect on the decomposition rate. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) showed that thermal decomposition was not the primary factor for the collapse of networks in the temperature range studied. Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) showed the main components of the soluble decomposed compounds were bisphenol A, hydroxybenzene, olefin and ketone compounds and their content varied during the reaction. The hydrolysis of ether bond was regarded as the key factor in the process of decomposition reaction of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether/alicyclic amine hardened networks.