Multifunctional epoxy resins: Phase equilibrium and structure formation during epoxy resin curing

Mar 06, 2024 Leave a message

A modern and apparently long-term trend in the creation of new structural polymer materials is the use of hybrid compositions based on thermosetting resins modified with thermoplastics: polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyetherimide, based on which The development of new engineering plastics based on polymer blends is of fundamental importance and decisive for the development of structural polymer materials with high mechanical and adhesive properties, thermal and electrical properties, chemical resistance and good technical properties. In fact, polymer-polymer compositions form a class of materials of their own, with different and sometimes specific properties and specific structure-morphology and phase organization, offering a wide range of applications. In order to obtain composite materials with desired physical and mechanical properties, it is necessary to form a given phase structure. For the controlled process of "macromolecular self-assembly" forming micro- and macro-phases initiated by the curing reaction of thermosetting resins, information on phase equilibria, diffusion transfer coefficients, and the evolution of phase diagram boundary curves at different stages of grid structure formation is required.

 

A general analysis of engineering structural materials technology, particularly based on thermoplastic and thermoset plastic mixtures, shows that the synthesis of structural materials is multi-stage and separated in space and time. Traditionally, there is a binder preparation stage, where the components are mixed; a prepreg formation stage, where the fiber filler is impregnated with the binder; and finally, a binder curing stage in a given product. It is at this stage that the major chemical and phase changes occur and the required structural and morphological organization of the entire material is formed. Each stage of the synthesis technology seems to be related to different physical and chemical processes; thus, mixing - the dissolution kinetics of polymer particles in oligomers, impregnation - the viscous flow of solutions in the porous structure of fiber fillers and their Adsorption interactions with filler surfaces, curing - reaction kinetics with spatial grid formation in the adhesive, etc. However, from a fundamental point of view, what is most important is information about the phase diagram, translational diffusion coefficients, thermodynamic parameters of the interaction of components at different stages of preparation, and chemical transformations of the reaction components. It is this information that allows one to quantitatively describe and predict all structural morphological transformations that occur in mixtures, solutions and dispersions throughout the technology cycle for the preparation of structural materials based on thermoplastics and thermosets.