Curing behaviors and performance of a carboxyl-terminated butadiene acrylonitrile rubber/bisphthalonitrile resin system

Abstract

The curing behaviors and processability of 2,2-bis[4-(3,4-dicyanophenoxy)phenyl] propane (BAPh) and carboxyl-terminated butadiene acrylonitrile rubber (CTBN) were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic rheological analysis. The results indicated that the introduction of CTBN significantly catalyzed the polymerization of the CTBN/BAPh system and that the processability of the CTBN/BAPh prepolymer could be controlled by temperature, processing time, and CTBN content. CTBN/BAPh/glass fiber (GF) composite laminates were prepared in this study. In terms of mechanical and dielectric properties, the CTBN/BAPh/GF composite laminate with 10 wt% CTBN content showed an outstanding flexural strength and modulus of 534 MPa and 32 GPa, respectively, as well as higher dielectric constant and lower dielectric loss compared with the BAPh/GF composite laminate. The results on thermal property showed that the CTBN/BAPh/GF composite laminate with 10 wt% CTBN could withstand a high decomposition temperature of 580°C under nitrogen and 520°C in air atmospheres. Hence, this work proposes an approach to improving the processability of phthalonitrile resin so as to further widen its industrial applications.