Reaction mechanisms of the metal chelates with epoxy oligomers and the structures of the epoxy—chelate metal‐containing matrixes

Abstract A theoretical generalization of the experimental results of the investigation of the properties of the metalliferous epoxy chelate polymers (MECP) based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol‐A (DGEBA) has been carried out. Shown is the possibility of adjusting the structure and properties of MECP by changing the temperature of hardening and the content of a chelate hardener in an epoxy compound and by varying the composition of a chelate molecule, i.e., its structural fragments—a metal, ligand, and anion, which leads to changing the predominant mechanism of the reaction of the epoxy oligomer with the hardener, which can be catalytic or can proceed with the amino groups of a complex cation or unconnected ligand and with an anion. As a result, the epoxy chelate matrixes of different structures are formed. A correlation between the tensile strength (σt) and tensile modulus (Et), flexural strength (σf), and flexural modulus (Ef) of MECP—σt (Et) and σf = f(Ef)—has been established. The form of this correlation corroborates the presumption that the polymerization mechanism of the epoxy oligomer is changed and the various structures of the polymer matrixes are formed. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.