writer：Hongbo Gu*, Chao Ma, Chaobo Liang, Xudong Meng, Junwei Gu* and Zhanhu Guo
keywords：Epoxy Composites，Polystyrene，Strengthened ，Toughened
source：期刊
specific source：Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Issue time：2017年
The transparent epoxy composites strengthened and toughened by thermoplastic polystyrene which is grafted with epichlorohydrin (g-PS) have been prepared at a low loading level. The polymer backbone of PS was manipulated by the epoxide and hydroxyl groups confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The contact angle and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests indicated that the grafting process could decrease the surface tension and increase the compatibility between PS and epoxy resins. The effects of g-PS loading and grafting process on both the viscosity of liquid epoxy resin suspensions, as well as the physicochemical properties of cured epoxy composites have been systematically investigated. The cured g-PS/epoxy composites demonstrated an enhanced tensile strength (maximum of 97.4 MPa) than either cured pure epoxy (77.6 MPa) or PS/epoxy composites (79.1 MPa). The modulus of toughness for g-PS/epoxy composites is up to 355.9 MJ m-3, which is respectively 176.6 and 141.1% higher than that of cured pure epoxy and PS/epoxy composites. The uniform g-PS distribution in the cured g-PS/epoxy composites was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The glass transition temperature (Tg) of cured g-PS/epoxy composites was shifted to a higher temperature (rising by 16.3 oC) in the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) compared with that of cured pure epoxy (111.7 oC). The obtained strong interfacial interaction between g-PS and epoxy matrix was responsible for the enhanced mechanical and thermal mechanical properties. This work provides a new sight for the investigation of interaction and compatibility between thermoplastic and thermoset materials.