Abstract
A high temperature resistant novolac cyanate ester was blended with polyethersulfone (PES) with different molecular weights using the solvent-free approach. The phase separation, curing behavior and thermal properties were studied using hot stage microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. Results showed the difference in the morphology for blends with different molecular weight PES explained by possible network formation. The influence of PES content on the glass transition temperature and mechanical properties was investigated. The most significant toughening effect (increase of 132% in fracture toughness) was achieved on a functionalized low molecular weight PES (20 parts per hundred of resin, phr). Rheology investigation allowed to estimate the optimal content of PES (15 phr) for further prepreg manufacturing.
Highlights
Cyanate ester resins are currently used for many important applications such as high-temperature adhesives, and advanced composite matrices in the aerospace and automotive industry [1,2,3]
In most of the existing research works, to achieve the dissolution of thermoplastic toughener, solvents are usually used with further evaporation. This approach is not suitable; we focused on simplification of toughening procedure
The morphology, thermal and mechanical properties of cyanate ester—polyethersulfone blends depending on the molecular weight and content of thermoplastic toughener were investigated
Summary
Cyanate ester resins are currently used for many important applications such as high-temperature adhesives, and advanced composite matrices in the aerospace and automotive industry [1,2,3]. Polymer Bulletin constant in the cured state, as well as low viscosity in the uncured state (lowest viscosity of all high temperature resins) has led to their use in low-volume highperformance applications. Their widespread use is limited in many applications by their inherent brittle behavior due to their high crosslink density [4, 5]. The degree of toughening is related to the degree of phase separation and the generated morphologies. The latter depends on curing conditions, molecular weight and content of the thermoplastic toughener [10, 11]
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