The effect of the vanillin-derived diene compound on the thermal, dielectric and mechanical properties of epoxy resins

Abstract

The increasing attention to environmental protection has driven the rapid development of bio-derived materials, as they are expected to break the dependence of conventional polymer on fossil resources. Herein, the aim of the present work focuses on a newly developed vanillin-derived diene compound (TFBAM) incorporated with epoxy resin (E51) for the enhancement of the thermal, dielectric and mechanical properties. The chemical structure of TFBAM was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) spectroscopies. The modified resins (E-TFBAM) were successfully prepared through the introduction of TFBAM into E51, and the consequences of TFBAM dosages on the curing behavior, thermal, mechanical and dielectric properties of E-TFBAM resins were dissected in details. The results revealed that an appropriate concentration of TFBAM could be conductive to improving the thermal stability and dielectric properties of E-TFBAM thermosets without damaging the mechanical properties. The dielectric permittivity and loss of 2.82–2.71 and 0.024–0.015 were obtained when the addition of TFBAM was 30 wt%, with 10–10.2% and 36.8–44.4% of reduction. Additionally, the impact strengths and elongation at break of E-30 TFBAM resin increase to 18.0 kJ/m2 and 4.7%, respectively. Overall, this research can be seen as essential for expanding the application of the epoxy resins in high-end fields.