Polyester resin highly cross-linked networks

POLYESTER RESINS FORM HIGHLY CROSS-LINKED NETWORKS, which result in brittle composites prone to microcracking and damage under impact. A better system is one that retains the desirable properties of polyester—stiffness and chemical resistance—and at the same time has higher impact resistance and increased strain to failure. Synthesis of a simultaneous interpene-... 

If each monomer molecule contains just two functional groups, growth can occur in only two directions, and a linear polymer is obtained, as in nylon 66 or Dacron. But if reaction can occur at more than two positions in a monomer, there is formed a highly cross-linked space network polymer, as in Glyptal, an alkyd resin. Dacron and Glyptal are both polyesters, but their structures are quite different and, as we shall see, so are their uses. 

The principal feature that distinguishes thermosets and conventional elastomers from thermoplastics is the presence of a cross-linked network structure. As we have seen from the above discussion, in the case of elastomers the network structure may be formed by a limited number of covalent bonds (cross-linked rubbers) or may be due to physical links resulting in a domain structure (thermoplastic elastomers). For elastomers, the presence of these cross-links prevents gross mobility of molecules, but local molecular mobility is still possible. Thermosets, on the other hand, have a network structure formed exclusively by covalent bonds. Thermosets have a high density of cross-links and are consequently infusible, insoluble, thermally stable, and dimensionally stable under load. The major commercial thermosets include epoxies, polyesters, and polymers based on formaldehyde. Formaldehyde-based resins, which are the most widely used thermosets, consist essentially of two classes of thermosets. These are the condensation products of formaldehyde with phenol (or resorcinol) (phenoplasts or phenolic resins) or with urea or melamine (aminoplastics or amino resins). 

Unsaturated polyesters contain a relatively high number of double bonds per polymer molecule as well as reactive end groups which remain unreacted after the cross-linking reaction. These unreacted groups have a negative effect on the network properties. These unfavorable structural defects are largely eliminated in what is known as vinyl ester resins ... 

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