Epoxy resin systems Multifunctional

Eor more demanding uses at higher temperatures, for example, in aircraft and aerospace and certain electrical and electronic appHcations, multifunctional epoxy resin systems based on epoxy novolac resins and the tetraglycidyl amine of methylenedianiline are used. The tetraglycidyl amine of methylenedianiline is currently the epoxy resin most often used in advance composites. Tetraglycidyl methylenedianiline [28768-32-3] (TGALDA) cured with diamino diphenyl sulfone [80-08-0] (DDS) was the first system to meet the performance requirements of the aerospace industry and is still used extensively. 

Epoxy resins and other polymers (tetrahydrofuran, vinyl ethers, styrene, etc.) can be cured when exposed to an acid or cation intermediate species. The photoactive catalyst system commonly used to cure epoxy resins and multifunctional vinyl ether materials is composed of salts of aryldiazonium, triarylsulfonium, and diaryliodonium. These systems are commonly employed in coatings and adhesives for electronic products. The acid initiator generated from the photoinitiator continues to be active even after uv curing, and so conversion of reactants and crosslinking continue even in the absence of uv light. This phenomenon is typically referred to as dark cure. 

Over the past several decades, significant advances have been made in developing epoxy-based adhesives having improved performance over these early adhesive systems. These improvements were made possible by (1) the incorporation of toughening additives into epoxy resin formulations and (2) the use of multifunctional epoxy resins primarily for high-temperature applications. These innovations are discussed in later chapters. 

For adhesive systems, the liquid epoxy resins most widely used with LP-3 polymers are liquid unmodified and diluent-modified bisphenol A resins and liquid blends of bisphenol A and bisphenol F resins. Solid bisphenol A, multifunctional, and aliphatic diepoxy resins have also been used. Ratios of liquid polysulfide polymer to epoxy are in the range of 1 2 to 2 1. The effect of various degrees of polysulfide on cure properties of a DGEB A epoxy is shown in Table 7.7. An increase in elongation and impact strength is the result of increased amounts of the liquid polysulfide polymer. 

The formation of networks by addition polymerization of multifunctional monomers as minor components included with the monofunctional vinyl or acrylic monomer is industrially important in applications as diverse as dental composites and UV-cured metal coatings. The chemorheology of these systems is therefore of industrial importance and the differences between these and the step-growth networks such as amine-cured epoxy resins (Section 1.2.2) need to be understood. One of the major differences recognized has been that addition polymerization results in the formation of microgel at very low extents of conversion (<10%) compared with stepwise polymerization of epoxy resins, for which the gel point occurs at a high extent of conversion (e.g. 60%) that is consistent with the... 

Fgo is the Tg of polymer at a = 0. This is good for many systems except for highly crosslinked multifunctional epoxy-resin moulding compounds (Hale 1991). 

A linear-chained epoxy resin was formulated from phenyl glycidyl ether and nadic methyl anhydride, catalysed by benzyldimethylamine (248). An IR fibre-optic probe was used to follow the conversion of a thermosetting tetrafunctional epoxy resin in which the hardener was an aromatic diamine and a carboxylic dianhydride. A polymerisation system consisting of a cycloaliphatic diepoxide, epoxidised natural rubber (ENR), glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and a cationic photoinitiator, triphenylsulfonium hexafluoro-antimonate, was studied (75). Multifunctional epoxy/ amine formulations (Epon 825 plus 4,4 -methylene-... 

Mineral-Filled Composites. Epoxy mineral-filled composites are widely used to manufacture laboratory equipment such as lab bench tops, sinks, hoods, and other laboratory accessories. The excellent chemical and thermal resistance properties of epoxy thermosets make them ideal choices for this application. Typically, liquid epoxy resins of bisphenol A are cured with anhydrides such as phthaUc anhydride, which provide good exotherm management and excellent thermal performance. The systems are highly filled with fillers such as silica or sand (up to 70 wt%). Multifunctional epoxy novolacs can be added when higher chemical and thermal performance is needed. 

Materials with Enhanced Thermal Properties. There are three alternate resin systems commonly available for applications requiring thermal properties superior to those available from the enhanced multifunctional epoxies polyimide (PI), cyanate ester blends (CE and BT), and polyphenylene oxide (PPO) blends. 

An alternative type of cross-linking mechanism is based on epoxy resins. A large field of research depends on this type of ehemistry, which proceeds via polymerization of multifunctional epoxide moieties in combination with a photoinitiator. The applicability of such a system led to the production of a commercially available photoresist - SU-8 - developed by IBM in 1989 [GEL 89]. Fiuthermore, SU-8 is involved in himdreds of patents and thousands of journal articles about photohthography iu general or micro-electromeehanieal systems (MEMS). A detailed overview concerning the... 

Most of the BPA-based epoxy resins are quite rigid and are based on petrochemicals. A quite different type of flexible epoxy resin is based on cardanol, derived from cashew nut shell liquid. Mono-, di- and multifunctional derivatives are possible. Mono- and difunctional low viscosity derivatives are used as modifiers and diluents, while complex di- and multifunctional epoxies are used in two-component ambient cure epoxy systems. They give the cross-linked matrix excellent flexibility, toughness and impact resistance. They possess very good water, chemical and corrosion resistance. 

A modified epoxy matrix for Kevlar FRP composites was produced from ep>oxy/polyphenylene oxide (PPO) blends cured with multifunctional cyanate ester resin [94]. The effects of the PPO content on the cme behavior in the cyanate ester-cmed epoxy were investigated with FTIR. The cme reaction in the ep>oxy/PPO blends was faster than that of the neat epoxy system. FTIR analysis revealed that the cyanate fimctional group reactions were accelerated by adding PPO and that several co-reactions had occurred. Thermal mechanical analysis showed that the thermal stability of the epoxy/PPO matrix is improved by adding PPO. In the respective compursites, the ISS values between Kevlar fiber and the epoxy/PPO blends are almost the same as those between Kevlar fiber and neat epoxy. The ILSS in the respective laminates increases with the PPO content, which was attributed to an increase in the composites ductility. 

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