TITLE:
Investigating the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of PDMS-Toughened Epoxy Resins for Advanced Adhesive Solutions
AUTHORS:
Sarvesh Kumar Singh, Sangeeta Kandpal, Manvendra Singh Rajpoot, Prakash Chandra
KEYWORDS:
Adhesives, Epoxy, Polydimethylsiloxane
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering,
Vol.12 No.10,
October
28,
2024
ABSTRACT: This study investigates the enhancement of mechanical and thermal properties in epoxy resins modified with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for advanced adhesive applications. The research focuses on evaluating the tensile strength, thermal stability, and glass transition temperature (Tg) of PDMS-toughened epoxy resins. The primary objective of this study was to explore the use of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as an impact modifier for epoxy resin. We successfully synthesized a grafting copolymer of diglycidyl ether bisphenol-A (DGEBA) and hydroxyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (HTPDMS) through the condensation of hydroxyl groups. Triethylene tetraamine (TETA) was employed as the curing agent to cross-link both DGEBA and the HTPDMS copolymer. The chemical structure of the DGEBA-HTPDMS grafting copolymer was confirmed using fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Tensile testing of the cured materials indicated that the elongation at break increased upon addition of PDMS. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed improved thermal stability for the DGEBA system with the incorporation of HTPDMS. These findings suggest that the Si-O-Si segments within the PDMS contribute to the improved mechanical and thermal properties of the DGEBA-based resin.