Thermomechanical studies of thermally stable metal-containing epoxy polymers from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A and amino-thiourea metal complexes

Abstract

New thermally stable epoxy polymers containing copper and nickel ions have been prepared by curing diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) with amino-thiourea metal complexes. Characterization of the metal complexes was carried out using infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis and mass spectrometry. Determination of the optimum value of the epoxy/thiourea metal complex ratio was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry. This method is based on the search for the maximum enthalpy change. The properties of the resulting metal-containing epoxy polymers were investigated with respect to glass transition temperature, thermal stability, tensile strength, and viscoelastic properties. Introduction of metal ions, especially the copper ion, into the polymer matrices produced polymers with good thermal stability and mechanical properties. The polymer showed good thermal stability compared to the DGEBA-DDM (DDM: 4,4’-diaminodiphenylmethane) system. The copper-containing epoxy polymer obtained at a mole ratio of copper complex:DGEBA (24:100) showed a 2.6% weight loss after heating at 400 °C and had a storage modulus of 6080 MPa at 125 °C, which is comparable to the epoxy-DDM system.