Study of modified epoxy prepreg binders curing process
摘要
A novel epoxy binder with enhanced processing characteristics suitable for the carbon fiber prepregs and hybrid polymer composite materials were developed by polysulfone and epoxy resin containing 25 wt% of encapsulated butadiene-styrene rubber in a polymethacrylate shell incorporation as modifiers. Polymer composite materials (PCMs) processing and performance properties are significantly dependent on the gelation time. In the present study temperature dependence of the viscosity and gel point for the epoxy prepreg binders has been investigated. The curing kinetics of the binder was carried out using a rheokinetic method with a rheometer with a plane-plane measuring system under isothermal conditions at temperatures of 100, 110, and 120 °C. In this research the influence of both modifiers on epoxy prepreg binders curing process was studied. It was shown that introduction of polysulfone significantly decreased curing process rate. Scaling approach was applied to provide a more comprehensive description of the binder curing process near the gel point.