New epoxy thermosets obtained from diglycidylether of bisphenol a and modified hyperbranched polyesters with long aliphatic chains cured by diisocyanates

Abstract

Hyperbranched polyesters modified with long aliphatic chains with vinyl or epoxy groups as chain ends were synthesized and added as modifiers to diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A/toluene-2,4-diisocyanate mixtures in the presence of benzyldimethylamine as catalyst. The influence of the addition of these modifiers on the curing was investigated by thermal analysis and infrared spectroscopy. The materials obtained were investigated by electron microscopy and some mechanical characteristics were determined by nanoindentation tests. Epoxy terminated hyperbranched led to homogeneous materials with high crosslinking densities, whereas vinyl terminated hyperbranched produced phase separated morphologies. The materials showing phase separation presented a tough fracture, whereas the homogeneous materials obtained with epoxidated hyperbranched showed increased brittleness on increasing the proportion of modifier. On increasing the proportion of vinyl terminated hyperbranched in the thermosets, Young’s modulus and hardness decreased but the addition of epoxy terminated hyperbranched did not influence these parameters. The addition of vinylic hyperbranched to the formulations produced a decrease in the curing shrinkage, whereas the epoxidic hyperbranched did not.