Cyanate Ester, Epoxy and Epoxy/Cyanate Ester Matrix Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Nanocomposites

by Liang, Kaiwen

Cyanate ester (PT-15, Lonza Corp) composites containing the inorganic-organic hybrid polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), octaaminophenyl(T8)POSS (C6H4NH2)8(SiO1.5)8, cyanopropylheptacyclopentyl(T8)POSS, (C5H9)7(SiO1.5)8(CH2) 3CN or TriSilanolPhenylPOSS (C42H38O12Si7), were synthesized respectively. These PT-15/POSS composites were characterized by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (X-EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and three-point bending flexural tests. XRD, TEM and IR data are all consistent with molecular dispersion of octaaminophenyl(T8)POSS and TriSilanolPhenylPOSS due to the chemical bonding of the POSS macromer into the continuous cyanate ester network phase. In contrast to octaaminophenyl(T8) POSS and TriSilanolPhenylPOSS, cyanopropylheptacyclopentyl (T8)POSS has a low solubility in PT-15 and does not react with the resin before or during the cure. The TriSilanolPhenylPOSS (C42H38O12Si7) was incorporated into the aliphatic epoxy (Epoxy 9000, Clearstream Products, Inc.) in 99/1, 97/3, 95/5, 90/10 and 85/15 w/w ratios and cured. This same epoxy resin was also blended with an equal weight (50/50 w/w) of cyanate ester resin (PT-15, Lonza Corp) and TriSilanolPhenylPOSS was added in resin/POSS weight ratios of 99/1, 97/3, 95/5, 90/10 and 85/15 and cured. Both sets of composites were characterized by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (X-EDS), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and three-point bending flexural tests. TriSilanolPhenyl-POSS was first thoroughly dispersed into the uncured liquid epoxy resin or the epoxy/PT-15 blend. XRD and X-EDS measurements after curing were consistent with partial molecular dispersion of the POSS units in the continuous matrix phase, while the remainder forms POSS aggregates. TEM and SEM show that POSS?enriched nanoparticles are present in the matrix resins of both the epoxy/POSS and epoxy-PT-15/POSS composites.