Effect of curing order on the curing kinetics and morphology of bisGMA/DGEBA interpenetrating polymer networks

The curing kinetics and morphology of an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) formed from an epoxy resin (DGEBA) cured by an imidazole (1‐MeI) and a dimethacrylate resin (bisGMA), cured by low‐ and high‐temperature peroxide initiators (TBPEH and DHPB, respectively) have been studied by temperature‐ramping DSC, isothermal near‐infrared (NIR), DMTA and small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS). bisGMA and DGEBA are polar and chemically similar thermosetting resins which should enhance the miscibility of their IPNs. The phase structure was controlled by varying the curing procedure: the order of gelation of the components is dependent on the choice of low‐ and high‐temperature initiators for bisGMA and this affects the morphology formation. In the cure of the bisGMA/TBPEH:DGEBA/1‐MeI system, the dimethacrylate cures first. For isothermal cure studies at 80 °C, the final conversion of the epoxy is reduced by high crosslinking of the methacrylate groups in the IPN causing vitrification before full cure. The dimethacrylate conversion is enhanced due to plasticisation with unreacted DGEBA, and its cure rate is increased due to accelerated decomposition of TBPEH initiator by 1‐MeI. SANS revealed that phase separation occurs in these IPNs with domains on the scale of 6–7 nm. In the cure of the bisGMA/DHBP:DGEBA/1‐MeI system, the epoxy cures at a similar rate to that of the methacrylate groups. For isothermal cure studies at 80 °C, similar final conversions of the epoxy have been observed except for the 75:25 IPN. The cure rate of the methacrylate groups in the IPN is increased also due to accelerated decomposition of DHBP initiator by 1‐MeI, and the extent of accelerated decomposition for DHBP is stronger than that in the TBPEH‐based systems. SANS studies revealed that this system is more homogeneous due to the rapid formation of the dimethacrylate gel in the presence of the preformed epoxy network which interlocks the networks at low degrees of methacrylate conversion. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Curing kinetics and reaction‐induced homogeneity in networks of poly(4‐vinyl phenol) and diglycidylether epoxide cured with amine

Mixtures of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol‐A (DGEBA) epoxy resin with poly(4‐vinyl phenol) (PVPh) of various compositions were examined with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), using the curing agent 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS). The phase morphology of the cured epoxy blends and their curing mechanisms depended on the reactive additive, PVPh. Cured epoxy/PVPh blends exhibited network homogeneity based on a single glass transition temperature (T_g) over the whole composition range. Additionally, the morphology of these cured PVPh/epoxy blends exhibited a homogeneous network when observed by optical microscopy. Furthermore, the DDS‐cure of the epoxy blends with PVPh exhibited an autocatalytic mechanism. This was similar to the neat epoxy system, but the reaction rate of the epoxy/polymer blends exceeded that of neat epoxy. These results are mainly attributable to the chemical reactions between the epoxy and PVPh, and the regular reactions between DDS and epoxy. Polym. Eng. Sci. 45:1–10, 2005. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Thermal,mechanical, and dielectric studies on the DGEBA epoxy blends by using liquid oxidized poly(1,2‐butadiene) as a reactive component

Liquid oxidized poly(1,2‐butadiene) (LOPB) with multi epoxy groups is synthesized to modify diglycidyl end‐caped poly(bisphenol A‐co‐epichlorohydrin) (DGEBA) cured by 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS). FTIR spectra shows that DGEBA and LOPB can be effectively cured by DDS, and the epoxide rubber particles are evenly distributed in the composites till their addition up to 20 wt % of DGEBA as seen from the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Their decomposition temperatures (Td) increase with the increase in LOPB addition at around 10 wt % of DGEBA while the Td for the composite containing 20 wt % LOPB of DGEBA is lower than that of the neat epoxy. The addition of LOPB improves their storage moduli and especially these values at temperatures higher above 150 °C; all the composites exhibit higher glass transition temperature (T_g) than that of the neat epoxy, and the maximum T_g reaches up to 255 °C for the composite containing 15 wt % LOPB of DGEBA. The incorporation of LOPB effectively decreases their dielectric constants and the composite with 10 wt % LOPB of DGEBA possesses the lowest one. The synergic improvements in their various properties are attributed to the networks formation via covalent linkage between the two phases in these reactive blends. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44689.     

Mechanical and dynamic mechanical studies of epoxy/VAc‐EHA/HMMM IPN–jute composite systems

Epoxy [50:50 mixture of Di‐Glycidyl Ether of Bis‐Phenol A (DGEBA) and Epoxidized Novolac (EPN)] was solution blended with Vinyl Acetate‐2‐ Ethylhexylacrylate (VAc‐EHA) resin in aqueous medium, in varying weight fractions, with Hexamethoxymethylmelamine (HMMM) as a crosslinker and data was compared with a control. The present work was aimed to optimize the tensile strength, dynamic mechanical strength, impact strength, and toughness by preparing a blend followed by jute composites of a semi‐ and full interpenetrating network (IPN). In control experiments epoxy alone was crosslinked (semi‐IPN), whereas the DGEBA‐EPN and VAc‐EHA/HMMM were crosslinked separately (full‐IPN), using jute as the substrate for making composites. Composites of full‐IPN systems of epoxy/VAc‐EHA system had higher moduli and UTS than the semi‐IPN systems. Dynamic mechanical study showed that full‐IPN systems have higher T_g values than semi‐IPN systems. The impact strength increases with increasing proportions of VAc‐EHA copolymer. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 958–963, 2004     

Synthesis and properties of methyl hexahydrophthalic anhydride‐cured fluorinated epoxy resin 2,2‐bisphenol hexafluoropropane diglycidyl ether

The fluorinated epoxy resin, 2,2‐bisphenol hexafluoropropane diglycidyl ether (DGEBHF) was synthesized through a two‐step procedure, and the chemical structure was confirmed by ¹H n uclear magnetic resonance (NMR), ¹³C NMR, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. Moreover, DGEBHF was thermally cured with methyl hexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA). The results clearly indicated that the cured DGEBHF/MHHPA exhibited higher glass transition temperature (T_g 147°C) and thermal decomposition temperature at 5% weight loss (T₅ 372°C) than those (T_g 131.2°C; T₅ 362°C) of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)/MHHPA. In addition, the incorporation of bis‐trifluoromethyl groups led to enhanced dielectric properties with lower dielectric constant (D_k 2.93) of DGEBHF/MHHPA compared with cured DGEBA resins (D_k 3.25). The cured fluorinated epoxy resin also gave lower water absorption measured in two methods relative to its nonfluorinated counterparts. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 2801–2808, 2013     

Blends of epoxy resins and polyphenylene oxide as processing aids and toughening agents 2: Curing kinetics,rheology, structure and properties

The curing behaviour, chemorheology, morphology and dynamic mechanical properties of epoxy ? polyphenylene oxide (PPO) blends were investigated over a wide range of compositions. Two bisphenol A based di‐epoxides ? pure and oligomeric DGEBA ? were used and their cure with primary, tertiary and quaternary amines was studied. 4,4′‐methylenebis(3‐chloro‐2,6‐diethylaniline) (MCDEA) showed high levels of cure and gave the highest exotherm peak temperature, and so was chosen for blending studies. Similarly pure DGEBA was selected for blending due to its slower reaction rate because of the absence of accelerating hydroxyl groups. For the PPO:DGEBA340/MCDEA system, the reaction rate was reduced with increasing PPO content due to a dilution effect but the heat of reaction were not significantly affected. The rheological behaviour during cure indicated that phase separation occurred prior to gelation, followed by vitrification. The times for phase separation, gelation and vitrification increased with higher PPO levels due to a reduction in the rate of polymerization. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of PPO:DGEBA340/MCDEA clearly showed two glass transitions due to the presence of phase separated regions where the lower T_g corresponded to an epoxy‐rich phase and the higher T_g represented the PPO‐rich phase. SEM observations of the cured PPO:DGEBA340/MCDEA blends revealed PPO particles in an epoxy matrix for blends with 10 wt% PPO, co‐continuous morphology for the blend with 30 wt% PPO and epoxy‐rich particles dispersed in a PPO‐rich matrix for 40wt% and more PPO. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry     

Preparation and characterization of epoxidate poly(1,2‐butadiene)–toughened diglycidyl ether bisphenol‐A epoxy composites

By the oxidation of liquid poly(1,2‐butadiene) (LPB) with H₂O₂/HCOOH, epoxidate poly(1,2‐butadiene) (ELPB) was obtained as a toughening agent to prepare diglycidyl ether bisphenol‐A (DGEBA) epoxy composites by using V115 polyamide(PA) as a cross‐linking agent. DGEBA, ELPB, and the composites were effectively cured by PA at 100°C for 2 h followed by postcuring at 170°C for 1 h. Thermal gravimetric analysis results in air and nitrogen atmosphere showed that the thermal stability of composites could be improved by the addition of ELPB. Compared with DGEBA/PA, the composites exhibited a decrease in strength at yield but an increase in strain at break with the increase in ELPB amount. The composite with 10% ELPB exhibited both thermal stability and tenacity superior to those of DGEBA/PA and composites with 5 and 20% ELPB, respectively. The improvements in thermal and mechanical properties of composites depended on the formation of Inter Penetrating Networks (IPN) among DGEBA/PA/ELPB and their distributions in the matrix. At an appropriate ELPB amount, the IPN, mostly made of DGEBA/PA/ELPB, may be distributed more evenly in the matrix; less ELPB resulted in the formation of IPN mainly made of DGEBA/PA; excessive addition of ELPB resulted in the local aggregation of ELPB/PA and phase separations. The toughening mechanism was changed from chemically forming IPN made of DGEBA/PA/ELPB to physically reinforcing DGEBA/PA by ELPB/PA with the increase in ELPB addition. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Blends of epoxy resin with amine‐terminated polyoxypropylene elastomer: Morphology and properties

A liquid diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin is blended in various proportions with amine‐terminated polyoxypropylene (POPTA) and cured using an aliphatic diamine hardener. The degree of crosslinking is varied by altering the ratio of diamine to epoxy molecules in the blend. The mixture undergoes almost complete phase separation during cure, forming spherical elastomer particles at POPTA concentrations up to 20 wt %, and a more co‐continuous morphology at 25 wt %. In particulate blends, the highest toughness is achieved with nonstoichiometric amine‐to‐epoxy ratios, which produce low degrees of crosslinking in the resin phase. In these blends, the correlation between G_IC and plateau modulus (above the resin T_g), over a wide range of amine‐to‐epoxy ratios, confirms the importance of resin ductility in determining the fracture resistance of rubber‐modified thermosets. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 72: 427–434, 1999     

Phase separation,cure kinetics,and morphology of epoxy/poly(vinyl acetate) blends

Epoxy based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A + 4,4′diaminodiphenylsulfone blended with poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) was investigated through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The influence of PVAc content on reaction induced phase separation, cure kinetics, morphology and dynamic‐mechanical properties of cured blends at 180°C is reported. Epoxy/PVAc blends (5, 10 and 15 wt % of PVAc content) are initially miscible but phase separate upon curing. DMTA α‐relaxations of cured blends agree with T_g results by DSC. The conversion‐time data revealed the cure reaction was slower in the blends than in the neat system, although the autocatalytic cure mechanism was not affected by the addition of PVAc. ESEM showed the cured epoxy/PVAc blends had different morphologies as a function of PVAc content: an inversion in morphology took place for blends containing 15 wt % PVAc. The changes in the blend morphology with PVAc content had a clear effect on the DMTA behavior. Inverted morphology blends had low storage modulus values and a high capability to dissipate energy at temperatures higher than the PVAc glass‐transition temperature, in contrast to the behavior of neat epoxy and blends with a low PVAc content. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 1507–1516, 2007     

Thermophysical properties of anhydride‐cured epoxy/nano‐clay composites

Polymer nano‐composites made with a matrix of anhydride‐cured diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and reinforced with organo‐montmorillonite clay were investigated. A sonication technique was used to process the epoxy/clay nano‐composites. The thermal properties of the nano‐composites were measured with dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The glass transition temperature T_g of the anhydride‐cured epoxy was higher than the room temperature (RT). For samples with 6.25 wt% (4.0 vol%) of clay, the storage modulus at 30°C and at (T_g + 15)°C was observed to increase 43% and 230%, respectively, relative to the value of unfilled epoxy. The clay reinforcing effect was evaluated using the Tandon‐Weng model for randomly oriented particulate filled composites. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) examination of the nano‐composites prepared by sonication of clays in acetone showed well‐dispersed platelets in the nano‐composites. The clay nano‐platelets were observed to be well‐intercalated/expanded in the anhydride‐cured epoxy resin system. POLYM. COMPOS., 26:42–51, 2005. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Thermomechanical behavior of epoxy resins modified with epoxidized vegetable oils

Biobased epoxy materials were prepared from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and epoxidized vegetable oils (EVOs) (epoxidized soybean oil and epoxidized castor oil) with a thermally latent initiator. The effects of EVO content on the thermomechanical properties of the EVO‐modified DGEBA epoxy resins were investigated using several techniques. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated that the cure reaction of the DGEBA/EVO systems proceeded via two different reaction mechanisms. Single and composition‐dependent glass transition temperature (T_g) mechanisms were observed for the systems after curing. The experimental values of T_g could be explained by the Gordon–Taylor equation [Gordon M and Taylor JS, J Appl Chem 2 :493 (1952)]. The thermal stability of the systems decreased as the EVO content increased, due to the lower crosslinking density of the DGEBA/EVO systems. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the systems was found to increase linearly with increasing EVO content. This could be attributed to the fact that the degrees of freedom available for motions of the segments of the macromolecules in the network structure were enhanced by the addition of EVO. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis of a novel phosphorus‐containing dicyclopentadiene novolac hardener and its cured epoxy resin with improved thermal stability and flame retardancy

A novel phosphorus‐containing dicyclopentadiene novolac (DCPD‐DOPO) curing agent for epoxy resins, was prepared from 9,10‐dihydro‐oxa‐10‐phosphaphenanthrene‐10‐oxide (DOPO) and n‐butylated dicyclopentadiene phenolic resin (DCPD‐E). The chemical structure of the obtained DCPD‐DOPO was characterized with FTIR, ¹H NMR and ³¹P NMR, and its molecular weight was determined by gel permeation chromatography. The flame retardancy and thermal properties of diglycidyl ether bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin cured with DCPD‐DOPO or the mixture of DCPD‐DOPO and bisphenol A‐formaldehyde Novolac resin 720 (NPEH720) were studied by limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL 94 vertical test and cone calorimeter (CCT), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. It is found that the DCPD‐DOPO cured epoxy resin possess a LOI value of 31.6% and achieves the UL 94 V‐0 rating, while its glass transition temperature (T_g) is a bit lower (133 °C). The T_g of epoxy resin cured by the mixture of DCPD‐DOPO and NPEH720 increases to 137 °C or above, and the UL 94 V‐0 rating can still be maintained although the LOI decreases slightly. The CCT test results demonstrated that the peak heat release rate and total heat release of the epoxy resin cured by the mixture of DCPD‐DOPO and NPEH720 decrease significantly compared with the values of the epoxy resin cured by NPEH720. Moreover, the curing reaction kinetics of the epoxy resin cured by DCPD‐DOPO, NPEH720 or their mixture was studied by DSC. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44599.     

Syntheses of epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes and the effects of terminated alkoxysilanes on cured thermal properties

A series of epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes have been synthesized by reacting multifunctional aminoalkoxysilanes with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin. The reactions of trifunctional 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), difunctional 3‐aminopropylmethyldiethoxysilane (APMDS), and monofunctional 3‐aminopropyldimethylethoxysilane (APDES) with DGEBA epoxy have been monitored and characterized by FTIR, ¹H NMR, and ²⁹Si NMR spectra in this study. The synthesized epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes precursors, with different terminated alkoxysilane groups, are thermally cured with or without the addition of curing catalysts. Organometallic dibutyltindilaurate, and alkaline tetrabutylammonium hydroxide have been used as curing catalysts to investigate the thermal curing behaviors and cured properties of epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes precursors. The maximum exothermal curing temperatures of epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes precursors are found to appear around the same region of 120°C in DSC analysis. The addition of catalysts to the epoxy/APTES precursor shows significant influence on the cured structure; however, the catalysts exhibit less influence on the cured structure of epoxy‐APMDS precursor and epoxy/APDES precursor. Curing catalysts also show significant enhancement in increasing the thermal decomposition temperature (T_d50s) of cured network of trifunctional epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxane (epoxy/APTES). High T_d50s of 518.8 and 613.6 in the cured hybrids of epoxy/APTES and epoxy/APMDS precursors are also observed, respectively. When trialkoxysilane‐terminated epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes precursor are cured, with or without the addition of catalyst, no obvious T_g transition can be found in the TMA analysis of cured network. The cured network of trialkoxysilane‐terminated epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes also exhibits the lowest coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) among the three kinds of alkoxysilane‐terminated epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes investigated. The organic–inorganic hybrid, from epoxy‐bridged polyorganosiloxanes after the thermal curing process, shows better thermal stability than the cured resin network of pure epoxy‐diaminopropane. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 3491–3499, 2006     

Epoxy toughening using low viscosity liquid diglycidyl ether of ethoxylated bisphenol‐A

Two new epoxy resins, diglycidyl ether of ethoxylated bisphenol‐A (BPA) with two and six oxyethylene units (DGEBAEO‐2 and DGEBAEO‐6) were synthesized and characterized. DGEBAEO‐6 was used to toughen the conventional epoxy resin diglycidyl ether of BPA (DGEBA). The blends of DGEBA with different amounts of DGEBAEO‐6 were cured by 4,4′‐diamino diphenylmethane (DDM), and their thermal and mechanical properties were examined. The DSC and DMA results presented that DGEBA/DGEBAEO‐6 blends exhibited a homogenous phase, and the glass transition temperature of the blends was inversely proportional to the content of DGEBAEO‐6. The impact strength of the cured blends was directly proportional to the content of DGEBAEO‐6, and reached five times higher than that of the neat DGEBA when 50 wt % DGEBAEO‐6 was used; the same impact strength was achieved for DDM‐cured DGEBAEO‐2. The viscosities of the blends decreased with increasing the DGEBAEO‐6 content, whereas the tensile and flexural strength and the thermal stabilities were not obviously affected. Scanning electron microscopic results confirmed that the plastic deformation inducing by the incorporated flexible oxyethylene units was responsible for the toughness improvement. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Toughening of epoxy resin systems using low‐viscosity additives

This study has evaluated three low‐viscosity epoxy additives as potential tougheners for two epoxy resin systems. The systems used were a lower‐reactive resin based upon the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and the amine hardener diethyltoluene diamine, while the second epoxy resin was based upon tetraglycidyl methylene dianiline (TGDDM) and a cycloaliphatic diamine hardener. The additives evaluated as potential tougheners were an epoxy‐terminated aliphatic polyester hyperbranched polymer, a carboxy‐terminated butadiene rubber and an aminopropyl‐terminated siloxane. This work has shown that epoxy‐terminated hyperbranched polyesters can be used effectively to toughen the lower cross‐linked epoxy resins, i.e. the DGEBA‐based systems, with the main advantage being that they have minimal effect upon processing parameters such as viscosity and the gel time, while improving the fracture properties by about 54 % at a level of 15 wt% of additive and little effect upon the T_g. This result was attributed to the phase‐separation process producing a multi‐phase particulate morphology able to initiate particle cavitation with little residual epoxy resin dissolved in the continuous epoxy matrix remaining after cure. The rubber additive was found to impart similar levels of toughness improvement but was achieved with a 10–20 °C decrease in the T_g and a 30 % increase in initial viscosity. The siloxane additive was found not to improve toughness at all for the DGEBA‐based resin system due to the poor dispersion within the epoxy matrix. The TGDDM‐based resin systems were found not to be toughened by any of the additives due to the lack of plastic deformation of the highly cross‐linked epoxy network Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis and Properties of Interpenetrating Polymer Networks Composed of Epoxy Resins and Polysulphones with Cross-linkable Pendant Vinylbenzyl Groups

Polysulphones with cross-linkable pendant vinylbenzyl groups (PSF-VB) were prepared via chloromethylation of commercial polysulphones. The curing reactivity of PSF-VB was investigated by differential scanning calori-metry. Interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) were prepared based on bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) and PSF-VB, where DGEBA was cured by 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl sulphone and VB groups of PSF-VB were radically polymerized using dicumyl peroxide (DCP). Polysulphones having pendant benzyl groups (PSF-Bz) were also prepared and used as non-reactive modifiers. The fracture toughness (K_IC) for the resulting epoxy/PSF-VB IPN increased by 65% with no loss of mechanical properties on 10wt% addition of PSF-VB (7·9mol% VB unit, MW 74000). Non-reactive PSF-Bz was less effective than PSF-VB. Although the PSF-Bz modified resin had a particulate structure, the morphologies of the PSF-VB/epoxy IPNs were not clear from scanning electron micrographs. Furthermore, the epoxy/PSF-VB IPNs had higher solvent resistance than the epoxy/PSF-Bz blends. Morphological behaviour, modification results and high solvent resistance of the cured epoxy/PSF-VB resins indicate that cross-linked PSF-VB and the epoxy network entangled fully in the presence of DCP. © of SCI.     

Synthesis of polysiloxane‐type multifunctional flame retardant and its application in epoxy systems

Polymethyl(3‐glycidyloxypropyl)siloxane (PMGS) was synthesized as a flame‐retardant additive, which were cocured with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol‐A (DGEBA) using 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylsulfone as a curing agent. The structure of PMGS was confirmed through Fourier transform infrared and ¹H‐NMR spectra. The cured products were characterized with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and oxygen index analyzer. With PMGS incorporated, the cured epoxy resin showed better thermal stability, higher limited oxygen index, and higher char yield. At moderate loading of PMGS, the storage modulus and glass transition temperature of the cured epoxy resin based on neat DGEBA were obviously improved. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

New epoxy resins. II. The preparation,characterization, and curing of epoxy resins and their copolymers

A polymer having high aromaticity and/or cyclic ring structures in the chain backbone usually gives high heat resistance and flame resistance. Five glycidyl ether-type epoxy resins are prepared from bisphenol A (DGEBA), 9,9-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)fluorene (DGEBF), 3,6-dihydroxyspiro-[fluorene-9,9′-xanthane] (DGEFX), 10,10-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) anthrone (DGEA), and 9,9,10,10-tetrakis(4-hydroxyphenyl)anthracene (TGETA) in order to study structure–thermal stability–flame resistance property relationships. In this study, trimethoxyboroxine (TMB) and diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) are employed as the curing agents. The char yield at 700°C under a nitrogen atmosphere and the glass transition temperature (T_g) for the uncured resins decrease according to the sequence TGETA > DGEFX > DGEA > DGEBF > DGEBA. The Tg values for these cured epoxy resins are DGEBA < DGEBF < DGEFX < DGEA. A T_g for the TGETA is not obtainable but would be expected to be the highest. The char yields at 700°C of these cured epoxy resins have the same trend as the uncured resins. DGEBF, DGEFX, DGEA, and TGETA added to the DGEBA system show increases in the char yield, T_g, and oxygen index with increasing concentration of these novel epoxy resins.     

Fracture and adhesion behaviors of epoxy resins modified with poly(amine‐quinone)

An amine‐quinone monomer, i.e. 2,5‐bis(4,4′‐methylenedianiline)‐1,4‐benzoquinone (BB), was synthesized by the Michael addition of 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl methane with 1,4‐benzoquinone. To evaluate the effect of BB content on the glass transition temperature (T_g) and crosslinking density (ρ) of cured diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)/BB systems, storage modulus and loss factor measurements were obtained using dynamic mechanical analysis. The mechanical properties of the systems were determined in terms of the fracture toughness, impact strength, and adhesion strength. As a result, the ρ values of the systems were found to decrease systematically as the BB content increased. The fracture toughness and adhesion strength of the systems increased with increasing BB content. These results indicate that the addition of BB into epoxy resins increases the free volume of the epoxy network and absorbs the deformation energy, resulting in an improvement of the mechanical properties of the DGEBA/BB systems. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Influence of cyanate content on the morphology and properties of epoxy resins with phenolphthalein poly(ether ketone)

Phenolphthalein poly(ether ketone) (PEK‐C) was blended with the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A epoxy resin and bisphenol A dicyanate ester. The effect of cyanate content on cure behaviors, thermal and mechanical properties of PEK‐C/epoxy/cyanate mixtures was investigated. As results, the increase of cyanate content slightly hindered the cure reaction of the mixtures. Fourier transform infrared results indicated that the curing reaction of the cured mixtures was complete. When the cyanate ester content increased, the flexural properties and T_g values were enhanced, and the initial thermal decomposition temperature was reduced. A significant improvement in fracture toughness was obtained when the cyanate group in the mixtures was excessive. The fracture toughness can be well explained by SEM observations. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011