Wendy L. Thompson

Elastomers Formed In-Situ in Epoxy Resins: Chemistry and Toughening

Abstract The chemistry of the in-situ formation of elastomer particles in epoxy resins is described. Under normal synthetic conditions, if one polymerizes an acrylic monomer in an epoxy resin, the resulting polymer is soluble in the epoxy resin or it grossly phase separates, depending upon the solubility parameter difference between the acrylic polymer and the epoxy resin. This work shows that with the use of a specifically tailored material (which we believe operates as a “polymeric surfactant”) in the reaction mixture, a free-flowing, stable suspension of acrylic elastomer particles in epoxy resin can be obtained. Thus, the reaction product of isocyanatoethylmethacrylate and EPONTM 1009 can be used as the polymeric surfactant in a reaction mixture containing hexyl acrylate, azo-bis(isobutyronitrile) and the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A. The resulting dispersion is stable to settling even after exposure to 150°C. When properly formulated, the resulting modified epoxy resins are improved in their fract...