Real-time measurement of resin shrinkage during cure

This paper describes a method for in situ determination of shrinkage during cure of thermosets using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) instrumentation. The measurement technique correlates shrinkage with gelation so that accumulated stress in the cured system can be assessed. Measurements at elevated temperature are possible. The technique can be adapted to anisotropic shrinkage in systems, such as fiber-reinforced composites, by selection of appropriate sample geometry.     

Effect of nanosilica on the kinetics of cure reaction and thermal degradation of epoxy resin

Nanocomposites from nanoscale silica particles(NS),diglycidylether of bisphenol-A based epoxy(DGEBA),and 3,5-diamino-N-(4-(quinolin-8-yloxy) phenyl) benzamide(DQPB) as curing agent were obtained from direct blending of these materials.The effect of nanosilica(NS) particles as catalyst on the cure reaction of DGEBA/DQPB system was studied by using non-isothermal DSC technique.The activation energy(E_a) was obtained by using Kissinger and Ozawa equations. The E_a value of curing of DGEBA/DQPB/10%NS system showed a decrease of about 10 kJ/mol indicating the catalytic effect of NS particles on the cure reaction.The E_a values of thermal degradation of the cured samples of both systems were 148 kJ/mol and 160 kJ/mol,respectively.The addition of 10%of NS to the curing mixture did not have much effect on the initial decomposition temperature(T_i) but increased the char residues from 20%to 28%at 650℃.     

The curing kinetics and mechanical properties of epoxy resin composites reinforced by PEEK microparticles

In this paper, a polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK)/epoxy composite was prepared by using PEEK microparticles as the reinforcement. The nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test was used to evaluate the curing reaction of PEEK/epoxy resin system. The curing kinetics of this system were examined utilizing nonisothermal kinetic analyses (Kissinger and Ozawa), isoconversional methods (Flynn-Wall-Ozawa and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose) and an autocatalytic reaction model. During these analyses, the kinetic parameters and models were obtained, the curing behavior of PEEK/epoxy resin system under dynamic conditions was predicted. The results show that isoconversional methods can adequately interpret the curing behavior of PEEK/epoxy resin system and that the theoretical DSC curves calculated by the autocatalytic reaction model are in good agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, the tensile elongation at break, tensile strength, flexural strength, compression strength and compression modulus increased by 81.6%, 33.66%, 36.53%, 10.98% and 15.14%, respectively, when PEEK microparticles were added in epoxy resin composites.     

Influence of fillers and additives on the cure kinetics of an epoxy/anhydride resin

The cure kinetics of a cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with and without additives and cured with an anhydride hardener was investigated by isothermal and nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).Dynamic measurements were used to predict the total heat of reaction of the epoxy resin as well as its activation energy based on the methods of Kissinger and Ozawa. With these methods the inhibition and acceleration effects of additives and fillers on the kinetics have been demonstrated. Additives for advanced processing and property upgrade were added in less than 2 wt.%, whereas fillers on base of SiO₂ were incorporated in more than 50 wt.%. The effect of SiO₂ surface treatment was also objective of this study.To describe the dependence of the conversion on time and temperature, isothermal DSC data were fitted to an autocatalytic model developed by Kamal and extended with a diffusion factor. The results show a very good agreement within the whole conversion range. Also the highly-filled system could be described very well by the phenomenological Kamal model.     

Cationic polymerization and physicochemical properties of a biobased epoxy resin initiated by thermally latent catalysts

The cationic polymerization and physicochemical properties of a biobased epoxy resin, epoxidized castor oil (ECO), initiated by N-benzylpyrazinium hexafluoroantimonate (BPH) and N-benzylquinoxalinium hexafluoroantimonate (BQH) as thermally latent catalysts were studied. As a result, BPH and BQH show an activity at different temperatures in the present systems. The cured ECO/BPH system showed a higher glass transition temperature, a lower coefficient of thermal expansion, and higher thermal stability factors than those of the ECO/BQH system. On the other hand, the mechanical properties of the ECO/BQH system were higher than those of the ECO/BPH system. These have been attributed to the differences in crosslinking level of cured resins, which were induced by the different activity of the latent catalysts.     

Cationic cure of epoxy resin initiated by methylanilinium salts as a latent thermal initiator

The effect of the novel N‐crotyl‐N,N‐dimethyl‐4‐methylanilinium hexafluroantimonate (CMH) initiator on cure kinetics and rheological properties of diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy cationic system was investigated. From DSC measurements of the DGEBA/CMH system, it was found that this system exhibited excellent thermal latent characteristics at a given temperature and revealed complex cure behavior as indicated by multiple exotherms. The conversion and conversion rate of the DGEBA/CMH system increased with increasing the concentration of initiator, attributed to the high activity of CMH. Viscoelastic properties during gel formation of DGEBA initiated by CMH were investigated by rheological techniques under isothermal conditions. The gel time obtained from the modulus crossover point t(G′) = G″ was affected by a high curing temperature and the concentration of CMH, resulting in a high degree of network formation in cationic polymerization. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2397–2406, 2001     

Mechanical properties and curing kinetics of epoxy resins cured by various amino-terminated polyethers

<正>A high performance thermosetting epoxy resin crosslinkable at room temperature was obtained via directly moulding diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A(DGEBA) and flexibleα,ω-bisamino(n-alkylene)phenyl terminated poly(ethylene glycol).The influences of the n-alkylene inserted in aminophenyl of flexible amino-terminated polythers(ATPE) on the mechanical properties,fractographs and curing kinetics of the ATPE-DGEBA cured products were studied.The results show that the insertion of n-alkylene group into the aminophenyl group of the ATPE,on one hand,can significantly increase the strain relaxation rate and decrease glass transition temperature of the ATPE-DGEBA cured products,resulting in slight decrease of the Young's modulus and tensile strength,and significant increase of the toughness and elongation of the ATPE-DGEBA cured products.On the other hand,it can remarkably enhance the reactivity of amine with epoxy,much accelerating the curing rate of the ATPE-DGEBA systems.The activation energy of DGEBA cured by BAPTPE,BAMPTPE and BAEPTPE was 53.1,28.5 and 25.4 kJ·mol~(-1),respectively.The as-obtained ATPE-DGEBA cured products are homogeneous, transparent,and show excellent mechanical properties including tensile strength and toughness.Thus they are promising to have important applications in structure adhesives,casting bulk materials,functional coatings,cryogenic engineering, damping and sound absorbing materials.     

Dielectric and rheological study of the molecular dynamics during the cure of an epoxy resin

Composite manufacturing is currently one of the most challenging processes for industrial lightweight applications. To date, the process conditions for polymer‐based composite manufacturing are evaluated by laboratory measurements: usually, the flow behavior and the curing of the polymer matrix material are characterized by rheology and quality assurance is performed by thermo‐physical analysis in postprocess measurements. In contrast a dielectric in‐mold sensor offers the possibility to measure the real‐time behavior of the polymer during processing. This study focuses on the correlation of simultaneous rheological and dielectric measurements on Hexcel RTM6 using a coupled setup of both techniques. For dielectric measurements a reusable in‐mold sensor was used and a calibration, taking into account the cable response, was performed. The results show good agreement with respect to glass‐transition temperature and the gel‐point. This can be understood by the fluctuation–dissipation theorem that explicitly relates molecular dynamics to the macromolecular mechanical properties under dynamic time‐dependent load. Furthermore, it was found that the dynamic viscosity can directly be related to the electrical conductivity. This proves the high potential of dielectric analysis as online‐capable technique for material characterization during composite manufacturing. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 907–913     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel cycloaliphatic epoxy resin starting from dicyclopentadiene

A novel tri-functional cycloaliphatic epoxy resin was synthesized starting from dicyclopentadiene. The chemical structures of the resultant epoxy resin and its precursor were characterized with FTIR spectroscopy, EEW, ¹H NMR and Mass spectrographic analyses. The thermal and mechanical properties of the resulting polymer were evaluated with differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermo-gravimetric and thermal mechanical analysis. Compared to that of the common cycloaliphatic epoxy resin ERL-4221, the cured polymer of the novel epoxy resin exhibited lower thermal degradation temperature with much higher char yield and similar thermal expansion coefficient. These excellent overall performances make it a promising packaging material.     

Mechanical characterization of a new Kevlar/Flax/epoxy hybrid composite in a sandwich structure

Natural fibers are inexpensive, biodegradable, and have similar specific properties to some synthetic fibers. Hardly any previous investigations exist of a composite made of multiple layers of pure Kevlar fiber fabric and pure Flax fiber fabric in a “sandwich structure”, but it only measured impact properties. The composite was made of 12 Flax/epoxy layers at the core in 3 possible configurations (i.e. [0]_12F, [0/90]_6F, or [±45]_6F) that were sandwiched by 2 Kevlar/epoxy layers (i.e. plain weave) on each side. This study showed maximum change in the mechanical properties with respect to Flax/Epoxy for tension (+137.85% in E_T, and +171.22% in σ_UT), compression (+171.22% in E_c, and −10.6% in σ_UC), 3-point bending (−11.54% in E_B, and +2.19 in σ_UB), torsion (−5.31% in G, and 395.82% in τ), and water absorption (60.04%). This novel hybrid composite may be useful for research and industry applications.     

Impedance spectroscopy of reactive polymers. 3. Correlations between dielectric,spectroscopic, and rheological properties during cure of a trifunctional epoxy resin

An investigation was carried out of correlations between dielectric, vibrational spectroscopic, and rheological properties during cure of a thermoset formulation composed of trifunctional epoxy resin and tetrafunctional amine. Experimental techniques utilized include impedance spectroscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy, steady shear, and dynamic mechanical measurements. Reaction kinetics obtained from dielectric and spectroscopic results were in excellent agreement. Gelation and vitrification times determined by dielectric and rheological measurements were also found to agree very well, despite the empirical nature of such correlations. A characteristic pattern in plots of imaginary impedance as a function of reaction time was reported for the first time in the open literature, and it was suggested that it could be used to identify gelation and vitrification during the network formation. A realization of the full potential of dielectric impedance spectroscopy in monitoring the progress of chemophysical changes in reactive polymers, however, hinges upon a development of fundamental scientific correlations between dielectric and chemorheological phenomena during cure.     

Synthesis, characterization, thermal properties and flame retardancy of a novel nonflammable phosphazene-based epoxy resin

Hexakis(4-hydroxyphenoxy)-cyclotriphosphazene (PN-OH) was synthesized through nucleophilic substitution of the chloride atoms of hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene and reduction of the aldehyde groups, and its chemical structure was characterized by elemental analysis, ¹H and ³¹P NMR, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. A new phosphazene-based epoxy resin (PN-EP) was successfully synthesized through the reaction between diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) and PN-OH, and its chemical structure was confirmed by FTIR and gel permeation chromatography. Four PN-EP thermosets were obtained by curing with 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM), dicyandiamide (DICY), novolak and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA). The reactivity of PN-EP with the four curing agents presents an increase in the order of DDM, PMDA, novolak and DICY. An investigation on their thermal properties shows that the PN-EP thermosets achieve higher glass-transition and decomposition temperatures in comparison with the corresponding DGEBA ones while their char yields increase significantly. The PN-EP thermosets also exhibit excellent flame retardancy. The thermosets with novolak, DICY and PMDA achieve the LOI values above 30 and flammability rating of UL94 V-0, whereas the one with DDM reaches the V-1 rating. The nonflammable halogen-free epoxy resin synthesized in this study has potential applications in electric and electronic fields in consideration of the environment and human health.     

Synthesis and properties of a phosphorus-containing flame retardant epoxy resin based on bis-phenoxy (3-hydroxy) phenyl phosphine oxide

A reactive phosphorus-containing compound, bis-phenoxy (3-hydroxy) phenyl phosphine oxide (BPHPPO) was first successfully synthesized to produce the phosphorus-containing flame retardant epoxy resin (BPHPPO-EP). The chemical structures were characterized from FTIR, MS, NMR spectra and elemental analyses. Thermal degradation behaviors and flame retardant properties of the cured epoxy resins were investigated from the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the limiting oxygen index (LOI) test using 4,4′-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) as curing agent. The high char yields and the high limiting oxygen index values were found to certify the great flame retardancy of this phosphorus-containing epoxy resin.     

Molecular dynamics of an epoxy resin modified with an epoxidized poly(styrene-butadiene) linear block copolymer during cure and microphase separation processes

Molecular dynamics of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin modified with an epoxidized poly(styrene-b-butadiene) (SepB) linear block copolymer has been monitored during cure and microphase separation process by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) for wide frequency and temperature ranges. Different primary and secondary relaxation processes have been analyzed for neat components and ternary mixture. Relaxational behaviour has been modelled with Havriliak-Negami, Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann and Arrhenius equations and fitting parameters and their evolution have been obtained. The retention of the epoxidized poly(butadiene) (PepB) block in the epoxy-rich phase during all the polymerization process, previously detected by our group with atomic force and transmission electron microscopies, has been confirmed by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. The evolution of molecular dynamics during the polymerization process of the epoxy resin in the ternary system indicates a change in the trend of the main relaxation at times that agree with phase separation detected by rheology.     

Fabrication and characterization of chitosan-silk fibroin/hydroxyapatite composites via in situ precipitation for bone tissue engineering

Homogeneous chitosan-silk fibroin/hydroxyapatite(CS-SF/HA) composites were prepared by in situ precipitation method driven by a multiple-order template. The morphology of the composites was investigated by scanning electron microscope(SEM) and transmission electron microscope(TEM). The compositional analysis was carried out by X-ray diffraction analysis(XRD) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). The mechanical properties and biocompatibility of the composites were also determined. The results indicated that the inorganic particles of uniform size(50 nm) were well-dispersed among the CS-SF matrices. The compressive modulus of the CS-SF/HA composites was enhanced with the increasing amount of SF. The in vitro results suggested that the MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells on CS-SF/HA composite disks displayed strong bonding and spreading, and the cell proliferation cultured on each composite disk increased throughout the culture period for up to 7 days. Especially, the samples with higher content of SF had much better biological properties. The evidences proved that the CS-SF/HA composites possessed excellent biocompatibility. By using the freeze-drying technique, hierarchical porous scaffolds with pores ranging from 50 μm to 200 μm were obtained. This work presented the advantages of in situ precipitation method to prepare the organic/inorganic composites, and a multiple-order template was introduced in the system to improve the properties of the composites by combining the merits of each organic template.     

Synthesis of a novel epoxy resin containing diphenylether moiety and thermal properties of its cured polymer with phenol novolac

A new type of epoxy resin containing 4,4′-diphenylether moiety in the backbone (2) was synthesized, and was confirmed by gel permeation chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In addition, in order to evaluate the influence of 4,4′-diphenylether moiety in the structure, epoxy resins having 4,4′-biphenylene moiety (4) and having 1,4-phenylene moiety (6) in place of 4,4′-diphenylether moiety were synthesized. The cured polymer obtained through the curing reaction between the new diphenylether-containing epoxy resin and phenol novolac was used for making a comparison of its thermal and physical properties with those obtained from 4, 6, and bisphenol-A (4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol) type epoxy resin. The cured polymer obtained from 2 showed markedly higher anaerobic char yield at 700°C of 44.0 wt %, higher fracture toughness, and higher mechanical strength and modulus. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3687–3693, 1999     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel polytriazole resin with low‐temperature curing character

A novel low‐temperature curing polytriazole resin was prepared from a triazide and a tetraalkyne and characterized. The resin can be cured at 70°C. The glass transition temperature T_g and thermal decomposition temperature T_d5 of the cured resin with the molar ratio of azide to alkyne group [A]/[B] = 1.0:1.0 reached 324 and 355°C, respectively. The study on the curing kinetics of the resin shows that the apparent activation energy of the curing reaction is 93 kJ mol^?1. The flexural strength of the cured resin reached 137.6 MPa at room temperature and 102.6 MPa at 185°C. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal properties and fracture toughness of a liquid‐crystalline epoxy resin cured with an aromatic diamine crosslinker having a mesogenic group

A mesogenic‐type curing agent was synthesized to introduce a mesogenic group not only into epoxy resin backbones but also into the crosslink units. In the mesogenic curing agent system, the domain size became larger, and the network arrangement in each domain existed to a greater extent than that in a system cured with the ordinary diamine curing system according to the evidence from polarized optical micrographs and polarized Fourier transform infrared mapping measurements. Moreover, the fracture toughness of the system was considerably improved. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2486–2494, 2006     

Synthesis, characterization and thermal properties of novel epoxy containing silicon and phosphorus nanocomposites by sol-gel method

Organic-inorganic hybrids were prepared using diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) type epoxy and tetraethoxysilane via the sol-gel process. The DGEBA type epoxy was modified by a coupling agent to improve the compatibility of the organic and inorganic phases. The sol-gel technique was used successfully to incorporate silicon and phosphorus into the network of hybrids increasing flame retardance.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ²⁹Si nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used to characterize the structure of the hybrids. In condensed siloxane species for TEOS, silicon atoms through mono-, di-, tri-, and tetra-substituted siloxane bonds are designated as Q¹, Q², Q³, Q⁴, respectively. For 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane and diethylphosphatoethyltriethoxysilane, mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-substituted siloxane bonds are designated as T¹, T², T³. Results revealed that Q⁴, Q³, T³ are the major environments forming a network structure. The morphology of the ceramer was examined by scanning electron microscopy and Si mapping. Particle sizes were below 100 nm. The hybrids were nanocomposites. The char yield of pure epoxy resin was 14.8 wt.% and that of modified epoxy nanocomposite was 31 wt.% at 800 °C. A higher char yield enhances the flame retardance. Values of limiting oxygen index of pure epoxy and modified epoxy nanocomposites are 24 and 32, respectively, indicating that modified epoxy nanocomposites possess better flame retardance than the pure epoxy resin.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel liquid‐crystalline epoxy resin combining biphenyl and aromatic ester‐type mesogenic units

A novel liquid‐crystalline epoxy resin combining biphenyl and aromatic ester‐type mesogenic units, diglycidyl ether of 4,4′‐bis(4‐hydroxybenzoyloxy)‐3,3′,5,5′‐tetramethyl biphenyl, was synthesized. Its spectroscopic structure, thermal properties, and phase structures were investigated with NMR, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and polarized light microscopy (PLM), respectively. The curing agent, diaminodiphenylsulfone, was chosen to investigate the curing behavior by means of DSC and PLM during isothermal and nonisothermal processes. Only one exothermal peak appeared in the isothermal DSC curves. Birefringence was also observed during the curing processes and preserved after postcuring. Compared with short rigid‐rod and flexible epoxies, the cured liquid‐crystalline epoxy resin that was obtained displayed special thermal stability according to thermogravimetric analysis because of its long rigid‐rod mesogenic unit and bulky methyl groups. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 727–735, 2007