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Effect of an epoxy octasilsesquioxane on the thermodegradation of an epoxy/amine system
Author(s) -
Montero Belén,
Ramírez Carmen,
Rico Maite,
Barral Luis,
Díez Javier,
López Joaquín
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.2698
Subject(s) - epoxy , limiting oxygen index , thermogravimetric analysis , materials science , char , thermal stability , degradation (telecommunications) , pyrolysis , ceramic , composite material , combustion , chemical engineering , polymer , fire retardant , organic chemistry , chemistry , telecommunications , computer science , engineering
Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS ® ) can be added to thermoplastic and thermostable polymers to obtain hybrid materials with only a minor tendency to suffer ignition. The aim of the work reported was to analyse the influence of an octafunctional POSS ® in the pyrolysis of an epoxy/amine system as well as during the combustion process. Thermal degradation of the modified materials, with respect to the unmodified ones, was analysed using thermogravimetric analysis. As the content of POSS ® increased the stability improved and the char/ceramic yields were higher. The Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose method was applied to the modified blends and it showed a decrease in the activation energy with POSS ® content. Empirical kinetic models, as well as generalized master plots, were applied to explain the degradation mechanism for ternary blends. The limiting oxygen index parameter was measured to analyse the fire retardancy effect of POSS ® : it increased from 24.3 to 25.4% with the addition of 2.5 wt% of POSS ® . The mechanism of thermal degradation of the hybrid materials based on an epoxy resin is affected by the presence of the octaepoxy POSS ® . Only small amounts of POSS ® are necessary to enhance the combustion resistance of the system. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry