Thermal, mechanical, and dielectric properties of epoxy resin modified using carboxyl-terminated polybutadiene liquid rubber

Epoxy (Ep) resin modified with carboxyl-terminated polybutadiene (CTPB) liquid rubber was investigated in this study. Fourier transform infrared verified the chemical reactions between oxirane ring of Ep and carboxyl groups of CTPB using benzyldimethylamine as a catalyst. The decrease of the thermal stability could be due to the lower thermal stability of CTPB compared with that of pure Ep. The mechanical results showed that CTPB-modified Ep was superior to that of the pure Ep, and the best overall mechanical properties were normally achieved with 20 phr of CTPB content. The impact strength of the system containing 20 phr CTPB increased by 193% due to the two-phase nature of the system. The dielectric constant and dissipation factor of the modified Ep obviously declined with the CTPB content compared with pure Ep, for instance, the dissipation factor remained less than 0.02 in wide frequency range.