Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of volatile compounds arising from epoxy powder paints during the curing process

Abstract

The nature of the volatile compounds emitted from six different epoxy powder paints during the curing process was studied. The paints were cured in a controlled device at 200 °C. The compounds released were analysed and identified by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with two different ionisation methods.

The results indicate that the manufacturing process of the resin largely determines the compounds that will be released during curing; 17 and 24 different compounds were found to be produced from conventionally made amide- and anhydride-cured paints, respectively, and three compounds were released from a paint made by the fusion method. Depending on the type of hardener used, melamine or 2-phenyl-4H-imidazoline appeared as the characteristic volatile compound of the paints studied.