| Abstract: | For enhancing the interpenetratoin and/or compatibility of the simultaneous interpenetrating networks (SINs) composed of epoxy resin (epoxy) and urethane acrylate resin (UAR), the graft epoxy consisting of different lengths of poly(oxypropylene) (PO) side chains were synthesized and characterized. It was found that the graft epoxy composed of short PO side chains [MW 480, epoxy-g-PO(480)] showed a compatible system while if consisting of longer PO grafts [MW 950, epoxy-g-PO(950)] exhibited a partial microphase separation morphology. DSC measurements as well as the SEM or TEM observation indicated that the interpenetration between the two phases for epoxy/UAR SINs including epoxy-g-PO(480) was improved appreciably due to the excellent miscibility between the PO grafts and PO segments existing in the graft epoxy and the UAR network, respectively. In this case, for SIN(80/20) containing 10 wt % of epoxy-g-PO(480) the tensile strength increases by a factor of 2.70 compared with that of pure epoxy network. However, the improvement of interpenetration and/or compatibility between the two networks as well as the mechanical properties for SINs composed of epoxy-g-PO(950) are limited resulting in the partial microphase separation of epoxy-g-PO(950) network's own self. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3568–3574, 1999 |
