Cure kinetics and properties of high-performance epoxy thermosets cured with active ester-terminated poly (aryl ether ketone)

Abstract

Benzene-1,3,5-triyl tribenzoate (TBB), both 3,5-bis(benzoyloxy)benzoate-terminated poly (aryl ether ketone) oligomers (BPAPK and TMPK), containing active ester (Ph−O−(C=O)− structure), were prepared and served as curing agents for dicyclopentadiene novoalc epoxy (DCPD). The curing kinetics and properties of three epoxy thermosets were systematically investigated. The model reaction of TBB and glycidyl phenyl ether was designed to understand the curing mechanism of oxirane ring with active ester. TMPK/DCPD displays the lowest reaction activation energy, which is the result of the combined influence of free volume and diffusion. In addition, TMPK/DCPD has the highest Tg value (218°C), which enhances 34.6% and 42.5% compared with BPAPK/DCPD and TBB/DCPD, respectively. Meanwhile, TMPK/DCPD also shows superior dielectric and water resistance properties due to no secondary alcohol generated after curing and hydrophobic tetramethyl-substituted biphenyl structure. Herein, TMPK/DCPD as high-performance epoxy thermosets has potential applications in electronic packaging fields.