Modification of epoxy resin by addition of bismaleimide and diallyl phthalate

Abstract

AbstractEpoxy resins are a very versatile class of compounds. They have excellent mechanical properties and are easily processable; however, their major drawback is their brittleness. An attempt was made to improve the impact strength of the epoxy without decreasing its other properties. In the present study a commonly used epoxy resin, diglycidyl ether of Bisphenol‐A, was modified by the addition of bismaleimide (BMI) and diallyl phthalate (DAP) and was cured with diaminodiphenylmethane and benzoyl peroxide. The composition incorporating 5 phr BMI showed maximum heat deflection temperature (HDT) and flexural strength with impact properties remaining almost unaffected. Further addition of BMI reduced the HDT and flexural properties but increased the impact strength. For epoxy‐DAP systems the maximum HDT and flexural strength were observed on addition of 5 phr DAP. Further addition of DAP lead to a decrease in all properties except impact strength, which was observed to increase. Incorporation of both BMI and DAP, simultaneously, into the epoxy resin resulted in improvement in mechanical properties for most of the compositions. However, the HDT was found to be less than that for unmodified epoxy. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:1881–1888, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers