Curing Behavior, Rheological, and Thermal Properties of DGEBA Modified with Synthesized BPA/PEG Hyperbranched Epoxy after Their Photo-Initiated Cationic Polymerization

Abstract

This paper investigates the photo-initiated cationic polymerization of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) modified with bisphenol A (BPA)/polyethylene glycol (PEG) hyperbranched epoxy resin. The relationship between curing behavior, rheological, and thermal properties of the modified DGEBA is investigated using photo-differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and photo-rheometer techniques. It is seen that the addition of the hyperbranched epoxy resin can increase UV conversion (αUV) and reduce gelation time (tgel). After photo-initiation polymerization (dark reaction) occurred, a second exothermic peak in the DSC thermogram takes place: namely, the occurrence of curing reaction owing to the activated monomer (AM) mechanism. Consequently, the glass transition temperature decreased, and at the same time, UV intensity increased which was due to the molecular weight between crosslinking points (Mc). Furthermore, the radius of gyration (Rg) of the network segment is determined via small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). It is noted that the higher the Mc, the larger the radius of gyration proves to be, resulting in low glass transition temperature.