Synthesis, Curing Behaviors and Properties of a Bio-Based Trifunctional Epoxy Silicone Modified Epoxy Thermosets

Tremendous effort has been focused on improving the toughness of epoxy, but the common approaches diminish the mechanical properties. In this work, a new silicone-modified trifunctional epoxy monomer SITEUP is synthesized from the hydrosilylation transformation of eugenol epoxy (EPEU) and tris-(dimethylsiloxy)phenylsilane. The chemical structures and curing kinetics of SITEUP are investigated based on ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, MADLI-TOF-MS, and DSC analyses. SITEUP is introduced into DGEBA/IPDA systems as a functional modifier in varied loadings for toughening the resulting epoxy thermosets. The impact strength of the modified epoxy thermosets containing 20% SITEUP is 84% higher than that of the pristine epoxy thermoset and also maintains high flexural strength. Further morphology study reveals that the plastic deformation caused by siloxane segments is the key factor accounting for the enhanced toughness of the finalized epoxy thermosets. Si-O-Si segments incorporated into the thermosetting network could absorb more energy by increasing the mobility of polymer chains under external stress and led to improved thermal stability and damping characteristics. In addition, SITEUP is able to decrease the surface tension and increase the hydrophobic properties of the resultant epoxy materials.

Preparation and thermal stability of heat-resistant phenolic resin system constructed by multiple heat-resistant compositions containing boron and silicon

This work reports a boron- and silicon-containing phenolic-formaldehyde (PF) resin exhibiting an extremely high thermal decomposition temperature and char yield and formed by copolymerizing phenol, formaldehyde, boric acid (BA), and phenyltriethoxysilane (PTES). The structure of BA and PTES-modified PF (BSPF) resin was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal stability of the investigated composites was estimated by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results of TGA indicated that the modified resin exhibited excellent thermal stability. Specifically, the thermoset had a char yield of 77.0% when the boron and silicon contents were only 1.27 wt% and 1.7 wt%, respectively. Compared with the unmodified resin (PF), the temperature at the maximum decomposing rate of the BSPF increased by 84°C and its charring yield was enhanced by 15.0%. The cured products of PF and BSPF were further investigated by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The incorporation of boron and silicon into the carbon lattice results in a decrease of interlayer spacing, and Raman ID/ IG values for PF and BSPF (2.63 and 1.32) show that the rearrangement of crystalline structure leads to an increase in graphite structure and a decrease in disordered structure upon the modification processes.