Improving glass transition temperature of unsaturated polyester thermosets: Conventional unsaturated polyester resins |
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Authors: | Moritz Stuck Irina Krenz Benedikt Schulze Kökelsum Susanne Boye Brigitte Voit Reinhard Lorenz |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Applied Science Münster, Münster, Germany;2. Institut für Makromolekulare Chemie, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Dresden, Germany;3. Institut für Makromolekulare Chemie, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Dresden, Germany Organische Chemie der Polymere, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany |
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Abstract: | Highly crosslinkable unsaturated polyester resins (UPR) have attracted many interests in the application as reinforced matrix materials. Here, we present a systematical study of the influence of different curing conditions and styrene concentrations on resin viscosity and dynamic-mechanical properties of the thermoset. The pure maleic Palapreg® P18-03 was selected as model UPR because of its broad industrial use. By applying newly developed thermal curing profiles (without thermal initiators) and by raising the styrene content, the Tg of the network could be increased up to 206/215°C (1/10 Hz). For the first time, a fast curable UPR based on propylene glycol and neopentyl glycol with a Tg of up to 215°C is described. A partial substitution of problematic styrene with methylmethacrylate, tert-butylacrylate, and maleic anhydride (MA) was studied as well. MA leads to significantly improved resin reactivity. A resin containing 42 wt% styrene and 8 wt% MA yields thermosets with remarkably improved mechanical properties and with a narrower glass transition range compared to the original P18-03. |
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Keywords: | crosslinking glass transition polycondensation polyesters thermosets |
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