Preparation and characterization of cyanate/epoxy foam. (February 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fan, Chunchun; Tian, Chunrong; Chen, Keping; Gao, Xia; Jia, Xiaorong; Wang, Jianhua
• Is Part Of: High performance polymers. Volume 28:Number 1(2016)
• Page Start: 96
• Page End: 109
• Publication Date: 2016-02
• Subjects: Foams -- cyanate -- epoxy -- rheology -- viscosity -- compressive properties -- thermal properties; Polymerization -- Periodicals; Polymers -- Periodicals; 547.7
• DOI: 10.1177/0954008315573337
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0954-0083

Abstract

A new type of cyanate (CE)/epoxy (EP) foam with bisphenol-A dicyanate ester prepolymer and diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (BADCy/DGEBA) has been successfully prepared through a two-step process. The structure and properties of CE/EP foam were studied. The results reveal that the CE/EP foams, with relatively uniform cell structure, were composed of closed cells as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The compressive strength increased from 0.507 MPa to 3.021 MPa, and the compressive modulus ( E ) increased from 15 MPa to 123 MPa as the density increased from 0.103 g cm −3 to 0.305 g cm −3 . Dynamic mechanical analysis revealed that the CE/EP foams possessed a high glass transition temperature ( T g ) (203°C) and that density had only a little impact on T g . Moreover, the excellent thermal stability presented with the onset of weight loss taken at 5% value was above 320°C, and the residual weight of the foam was more than 21.6% at 800°C. With increase in the density of CE/EP foams, the dielectric constants (ε) gradually decreased. For the foam with density of ρ = 0.162 g cm −3, the value of ε was as low as 2.28 at the frequency of 10 kHz.