posted on 2023-11-30, 16:43authored byTaha Behroozi Kohlan, Asu Ece Atespare, Mehmet Yildiz, Yusuf Ziya Menceloglu, Serkan Unal, Bekir Dizman
One-component epoxy resins (OCERs) are proposed to overcome
the
energy inefficiency and processing difficulties of conventional two-component
epoxy resins by employing latent curing agents, specifically thermal
latent curing agents (TLCs). Despite recent progress, the need for
TLCs with a simple preparation method for different curing agents,
epoxy resins, and process conditions remains. Here, tailorable TLCs
were prepared by forming complexes between imidazole (Im) and amphiphilic
polyoxazoline copolymers with tunable structures and properties by
a solvent evaporation method. The obtained TLCs were manually mixed
with DGEBA to prepare OCERs. The miscibility of the complexes with
DGEBA was studied, considering the functionalities of copolymers.
The curing behaviors of TLCs were compared using dynamic Differential
Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) studies considering the side chain and
composition of the copolymers, copolymer:Im ratio, and concentration
of Im in DGEBA. The curing behavior of the promising OCERs was studied
by isothermal DSC studies to investigate their stability at different
temperatures and curing rate at elevated temperatures revealing the
stability of these OCERs.