Preparation of high performance adhesives matrix based on epoxy resin modified by bis-hydroxy terminated polyphenylene oxide

A bis-hydroxy terminated polyphenylene oxide (MPPO) modification was tried for the purpose of simultaneously enhancing the processability and heat resistance of epoxy resin. The thermal stability, chemorheology, morphology and mechanical properties of epoxy-polyphenylene oxide blends were investigated, respectively. The structure of MPPO was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy which indicated that MPPO was successfully synthesized. Epoxy-polyphenylene oxide blends exhibited a wide range of processing temperature mainly owing to the existence of bis-hydroxy in MPPO. Mechanical properties results revealed that the impact strength, tensile strength and elongation at break of MPPO/EP systems were performed satisfactorily. Scanning electron microscopy studies revealed the two-phase morphology and modification mechanism of the epoxy-polyphenylene oxide. Dynamic mechanical analysis and thermal gravimetric analyzer results showed that the introduction of MPPO leading to an enhancement to the thermal stability of epoxy matrix. Therefore, epoxy-polyphenylene oxide blends meet the requirements for the prepreg and high performance adhesives matrix.