Toughening modification of epoxy resins by epoxy‐terminated hyperbranched polyethers fabricated by doping sorbitol with inositol

Abstract

Increasing social awareness concerning the design of excellent performance toughening agents to curb the adverse effects of insufficient toughness on the wide range of applications of epoxy resin (EP). Herein, a small amount of sorbitol was doped into carbocyclic inositol as a core monomer, and bisphenol‐A and epichlorohydrin were used to produce epoxide‐terminated hyperbranched polyether by one‐pot preparation method. After that, the prepared polymer was used as modifier to improve the toughness and strength of petroleum‐based EPs. Results demonstrated that after adding the homemade epoxy‐terminated hyperbranched polyether (EHBPE) to the EP, the polyether prepared with the ratio of sorbitol and inositol displayed significant advantages compared with the polyether with monomers using only sorbitol and inositol, respectively. In particular, the impact, and tensile strengths of EHBPE‐IS/EP cured sample with EHBPE‐IS loading at 20% were increased by 197.5%, 139.6%, respectively, compared with those of neat EP. In brief, EHBPE‐IS, a member of the family of EHBPEs, provided a facile method for the preparation of bifunctional modifier for tough and strong EP with promising industrial applications.

Designing Schiff-Based Hyperbranched Polysiloxane for Simultaneously Enhancing Epoxy Resin with Mechanical Properties, Thermal Stability, and Recyclability

“…Thermal weight loss behavior of the modified epoxy resin was not investigated in this study. In a separate study, Lu et al 20 prepared a hyperbranched polyether (EHBPE-IS), leading to a 197.5% increase in impact strength and a 139.6% increase in tensile strength of the epoxy resin with 20% addition of EHBPE-IS. However, concerns were raised regarding the use of hazardous epichlorohydrin in the preparation process and the large amount of modifier added.…”

High-Impact Epoxy Resins with Superior Hydrophobicity Toughened by Epoxy Functionalized Poly(olefin-alt-maleimide) Derivatives

“…For the heterogeneous toughening process, the widely used toughening modifiers include rubbers, , thermoplastics, , core–shell polymers, , liquid crystal polymers, , block polymers (BCPs), , nanomaterials, , and topological structures. , However, the immiscibility between EPs and modifiers will inevitably lead to an opaque curing system with high viscosity, which seriously limited the applications of EPs in the fields of electronic packaging, engineering plastics, coatings, etc. On the other hand, hyperbranched polymers, , biobased materials, , and epoxy prepolymers with flexible segments , are typical modifiers added in homogeneous toughening systems . Generally, these modifiers are homogeneously dispersed in the EP matrix, and interpenetrated networks (IPNs) with single- or multimolecule aggregates were formed in the cross-linked networks.…”