T. Iijima et al., Preparation of poly(1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene phthalate)s and their useas modifiers for aromatic diamine-cured epoxy resin, POLYM INT, 49(8), 2000, pp. 871-880
Poly(1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene phthalate) s, prepared by the reaction of
phthalic anhydride and 1, 4-cyclohexane dimethanol (35/65 or 73/27 mol% ci
s/trans or trans alone), have been used to improve the toughness of bisphen
ol-A diglycidyl ether epoxy resin cured with 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl sulfone.
The aromatic polyesters include poly(cis/trans-1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene
phthalate) (PCP) based on a commercial cyclohexane dimethanol, poly(trans-
1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene phthalate) (trans-PCP) and poly(cis/trans-1,4-
cyclohexylenedimethylene phthalate) (cis-rich PCP) prepared from a cis-rich
diol. The polyesters used were soluble in the epoxy resin without solvents
and were effective as modifiers for toughening the cured epoxy resin. For
example, the inclusion of 20wt% of PCP (MW 6300 g mol(-1)) led to an 80% in
crease in the fracture toughness (K-IC) of the cured resin with no loss of
mechanical and thermal properties. The toughening mechanism is discussed in
terms of morphological and dynamic viscoelastic behaviours of the modified
epoxy resin system. (C) 2000 Society of Chemical Industry.