Viscosity reactive diluent

Diluents Diluents reduce viscosity. Reactive diluents have epoxy groups, and nonreactive diluents have no epoxy groups available for reaction. 

Proper dispersing techniques and additives can help to alleviate this to some degree. It is recommended to use predominantly low viscosity reactive diluents along with a dispersant specifically prepared to stabilize and completely wet the organic pigment in question. 

There are two basic VPI resin formulations. One is based on epoxy resins, and the other is based on unsaturated polyesters. Both are typically one-part solventless compositions that are completely polymerizable. Volatile, nonpolymerizable solvents cannot be tolerated because these will lead to bubbling in the vacuum impregnation procedure. To control viscosity of the resin formulations, the epoxies contain low-viscosity, reactive diluents of the monoglycidyl ether type the unsaturated polyester formulations contain styrene or vinyltoluene as reactive diluents. Both resin types contain catalysts that become active only at elevated temperatures to insure long-term stability at room temperature. The epoxy resins are frequently catalyzed with metal organic compounds such as titanium complexes, and peroxides are usually the main catalyst in the unsaturated polyester formulations. In addition to the ingredients mentioned here, the compositions may contain additives such as cocatalysts, activators, and accelerators. However, there are no particular fillers used in VPI resins. 

The major use of vinylpyrrohdinone is as a monomer in manufacture of poly(vinylpyrrohdinone) (PVP) homopolymer and in various copolymers, where it frequendy imparts hydrophilic properties. When PVP was first produced, its principal use was as a blood plasma substitute and extender, a use no longer sanctioned. These polymers are used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic appHcations, soft contact lenses, and viscosity index improvers. The monomer serves as a component in radiation-cured polymer compositions, serving as a reactive diluent that reduces viscosity and increases cross-linking rates (see... 

C H NO, and drying oil acid amides with hexamethoxymethylmelamine [3089-11-OJ, C H qN O, (23,24), and trimethylolpropane triacrylate [37273-47-17, been recommended. Such reactive diluents give solutions of higher viscosity, ie, lower alkyd concentration at the same... 

Both materials meet the processiag requirements of the industry because they are honeylike fluids at room temperature and low viscosity Hquids between approximately 70° and 90°C and thus act as reactive diluents and tougheners at the same time. 

The epoxidation is generally conducted in two steps (/) the polyol is added to epichlorohydrin in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst (stannic chloride, boron triduoride) to produce the chlorohydrin intermediate, and (2) the intermediate is dehydrohalogenated with sodium hydroxide to yield the aliphatic glycidyl ether. A prominent side-reaction is the conversion of aliphatic hydroxyl groups (formed by the initial reaction) into chloromethyl groups by epichlorohydrin. The aliphatic glycidyl ether resins are used as flexibilizers for aromatic resins and as reactive diluents to reduce viscosities in resin systems. 

Monofunctional aliphatic glycidyl ethers, eg, based on / -butanol or mixed Cg—alcohols, are used exclusively as reactive diluents to reduce viscosities of epoxy resin systems. Some loss of desirable cured properties results from the lowered functionality of the systems. 

High Solids Costings. High soHds coatings resemble the technology of solvent-free coatings but the compositions contain ca 70% by volume of soHd resin and are modified by reactive diluents, low viscosity multifunctional resins, or backbone stmctures other than the bisphenol A moiety. 

Because of its low price, compatibility, low viscosity and ease of use styrene is the preferred reactive diluent in general purpose resins. Methyl methacrylate is sometimes used, but as it does not copolymerise alone with most unsaturated polyesters, usually in conjunction with styrene in resins for translucent sheeting. Vinyl toluene and diallyl phthalate are also occasionally employed. The use of many other monomers is described in the literature. 

Low-viscosity diglycidyl ether resins of undisclosed composition" have been marketed in the United States and in Britain. The materials are stated to be totally difunctional, i.e. free from monofunctional reactive diluents. The cured resins have properties very similar to those of the standard diglycidyl ether resins. 

The polysulphides used are relatively mobile liquids with viscosities of about 10 poise and are thus useful as reactive diluents. They may be employed in any ratio with epoxide and produets will range from soft rubbers, where only polysulphides are employed, to hard resins using only epoxide. 

Example 6. High Solids, Two-Component, Clear, Aliphatic, Polyurea Coating. This example of an aliphatic, 100% urea coating utilizes polyaspartic esters as reactive diluents (see Section 4.2.3). These compounds allow fine tuning of reactivity and physical properties and eliminate the need for viscosity-reducing solvents. 

The photoinitiator selected for this study was 1-benzoyl cyclohexanol (Irgacure 184 from Ciba Geigy), a compound known for its high initiation efficiency and the weak coloration of its photoproducts. The multifunctional monomer was an epoxy-diacrylate derivative of bis-phenol A (Ebecryl 605 from UCB). A reactive diluent, tripropyleneglycol diacrylate, had to be introduced in equal amounts, in order to lower the viscosity of the formulation to about 0.3 Pa.s. 

Since the commercially available epoxy acrylate is extremely viscous, it is necessary to thin the formulation with a reactive diluent. A mixture with satisfactory viscosity for brush-on application contains about 45% diluent. Of the diluents tested, TMPTA (trimethylolpropane triacrylate) proved most successful. 

Diluent. A material added to another to reduce the concentration of a component or change a physical characteristic such as viscosity, reactivity, color, etc. 

Two of the main considerations in the development of totally reactive liquid photopolymer systems are the resin(s) and the reactive diluents (monomers). The resins play a major role in determining the end properties and therefore the applications of the cured polymer. The reactive diluents are used to provide a fully reactive system with the appropriate reactivity, viscosity, coatability before cure and the desired crosslink density, chemical resistance and dielectric character once it is cured. The pho-toreactive monomers most commonly used are acrylate based derivatives because of the properties they impart, and their high reactivity and wide solubility range. 

Compomers contain no water, but rather are mainly formulated from the same components as conventional composite resins. Typically this means macromonomers, such as bis-glycidyl ether dimethacrylate (bisGMA) or its derivatives and/or urethane dimethacrylate, blended with viscosity-reducing diluents, such as triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA). These polymer systems are filled with non-reactive inorganic powders, for example, quartz or a silicate glass [271]. 

A related approach to high solids coatings is to incorporate a reactive chemical as the solvent. This allows control of the coating viscosity during application but minimizes the VOCs released because the solvent is cross-linked into the coating (Johnson, 1995 Robinson et al., 1994 Adams, 1996 Rupa Vani et al., 1993 Kuo et al., 1994 Hoffman, 1995). Reactive diluents take many forms, sometimes even as a natural oil as in the case discussed by Dirlikov et al. (1992) and Banov (1994). 

These modified BMIs were developed in order to improve the fracture toughness of the BMIs by decreasing the crosslinking density. In fact, commercial BMIs are formulated with comonomers, chain extenders, reactive diluents and sometimes with viscosity modifiers [45]. 

Secondary ingredients in epoxy adhesives include reactive diluents to adjust viscosity mineral fillers to lower cost, adjust viscosity, or modify the coefficient of thermal expansion and fibrous fillers to improve thixotropy and cohesive strength. Epoxy resins are often modified with other resins to enhance certain properties that are necessary for the application. Often these modifications take the form of additions of elastomeric resins to improve toughness or peel strength. 

An ingredient added to an adhesive to reduce the concentration of base resin or binder is called a diluent. Diluents are principally used to lower the viscosity and modify the processing conditions of some adhesives. The degree of viscosity reduction caused by various diluent additions to a conventional epoxy adhesive is shown in Fig. 1.5. Diluents do not evaporate as does a solvent, but they become part of the final adhesive. Reactive diluents react with the resin base during cure, so that the final adhesive characteristics are determined by the reaction product of the binder and diluent. Nonreactive diluents do not react with the resin or curing agent and, therefore, more seriously weaken the final properties. Coal and pine tar are common nonreactive diluents. 

FIGURE 1.5 Viscosity reduction of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin by reactive diluents.31... 

Other products that may be epoxidized in this way include dihydric and trihydric phenols, aliphatic polyols such as glycerol, and simple alcohols such as butanol or alyl alcohol. These products, especially the monofunctional glycidyl ethers, are used at relatively low percentages to reduce the viscosity of formulations containing DGEBA resins. In this way, they act as reactive diluents. 

The higher-MW semisolid (EEW of 225 to 280) and solid epoxy resins (EEW > 450) may be blended into lower-MW resins to improve flexibility and decrease reactivity. They also improve adhesion due to the higher concentration of hydroxyl groups along the molecular chain. Ten percent of a higher-MW epoxy resin blended into a conventional liquid epoxy resin (EEW of 190) can significantly improve flexibihty, but a reactive diluent frequently needs to be added to the formulation to counteract the increased viscosity caused by the addition. 

Commercial products are available where n varies from 2 to 7. The flexible epoxy resins based on polyglycol also make excellent reactive diluents because they have a viscosity of 100 cP at 25°C. Table 4.4 shows the effect of two polyglycol diepoxides on the physical properties of a cured epoxy system. Another type of flexible epoxy resin is derived from dimerized unsaturated fatty acid, cashew nut oils, and other vegetable oils. Other flexible epoxy resins can be made with thiols, aliphatic acids, and hydroxyl-terminated compounds. Applications where flexible epoxy resins are valued include... 

In addition to viscosity reduction, the presence of a reactive diluent generally leads to a faster rate of cure and a higher crosslink density than with an undiluted resin. This is due... 

The primary reactive diluents are monoepoxy low-molecular-weight epoxy resins. These may be used at rather high concentration with little effect on cured properties. Often they are employed to make selective improvements on certain properties such as adhesion, thermal cycling resistance, and impact strength. Some lower-viscosity commercial epoxy resins are already reduced with these diluents. 

Monofunctional epoxy diluents are used primarily with DGEBA epoxy blends. The most common monofunctional diluents are butyl glycidyl ether and phenyl glycidyl ether. The effect of butyl glycidyl ether and other reactive diluents on the viscosity of epoxy resin is shown in Fig. 6.3. Because the monofunctional diluents reduce crosslink density, they are used at relatively low levels to avoid degrading heat and chemical resistance or other properties of the adhesive. 

TABLE 6.3 Viscosity Reducing Power of Reactive Diluents and Their Effect on Heat Distortion Properties11... 

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