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Controllable design of nanostructure in block copolymer reinforced epoxy composites
Author(s) -
Heng Zhengguang,
Zhang Haoruo,
Chen Yang,
Zou Huawei,
Liang Mei
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.46362
Subject(s) - epoxy , materials science , thermosetting polymer , composite material , copolymer , polystyrene , ultimate tensile strength , microstructure , polymer
ABSTRACT The modification of epoxy composites through the construction of nanostructures via the self‐organization of block copolymers in epoxy has become a hot topic. In this research, polystyrene‐ b ‐poly(ɛ‐caprolactone)‐ b ‐polydimethylsiloxane‐ b ‐poly(ɛ‐caprolactone)‐ b ‐polystyrene (PS‐PCL‐PDMS‐PCL‐PS) block copolymers with different lengths of PS subchains were synthesized and incorporated into epoxy thermoset. Due to the difference in the length of PS subchains, two different sizes of core‐shell nanostructures were obtained. When these two block copolymers were incorporated into epoxy, the tensile strength, elongation at break, damping temperature in range (tan δ > 0.2), and storage modulus of the epoxy thermoset below 105 °C were simultaneously improved. Meanwhile, the effects of the lengths of PS subchains on the size of nanostructures and the relationship between microstructure and macroscopic properties of epoxy composites were systematically investigated. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135 , 46362.