Synthesis and mechanical properties of flame retardant vinyl ester resin for structural composites

• Published in: Polymer (Guilford) Vol. 133; pp. 20 - 29
• Main Authors: Dev, Siddharth, Shah, Priyank N., Zhang, Yipei, Ryan, David, Hansen, Christopher J., Lee, Yongwoo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 20-12-2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Biodiesel fuels; Biofuels; Bromination; Calorimetry; Chemical synthesis; Cure kinetics; Differential scanning calorimetry; Dynamic mechanical analysis; Fabrication; Fiber composites; Fiber reinforced plastics; Fiber reinforced polymers; Flame retardants; Flammability; Hulls; Industrial wastes; Kinetics; Mechanical properties; Nanocomposites; Naval vessels; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Polymer matrix composites; Polymers; Pulp; Pulp wastes; Reaction kinetics; Reaction products; Resins; Retardants; Rheological properties; Rheology; Styrene; Tetrabromobisphenol A; Thermosets; Thermosetting resins; Vinyl ester resins; Viscosity and viscoelasticity; Wood; Wood waste; Viscosity and viscoelasticity; Mechanical properties; Thermosets; Cure kinetics; Resins
• ISSN: 0032-3861; 1873-2291
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2017.11.017

Halogen-based fire retardants are often used to reduce flammability and improve the fire resistance properties of polymers and fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPs). Brominated vinyl ester resins (Br-VERs) are a class of halogenated polymer matrices that are economically viable, high performance materials that are widely utilized in composites for specialty applications, such as the fabrication of hulls in naval vessels. In this work, Br-VE polymer is synthesized from tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) precursors, and which can be derived from the wastes of the biodiesel and wood pulp industries, respectively. The Br-VE reaction products are analyzed by 1H NMR and the presence of unreacted (nonfunctional), monofunctional and difunctional TBBPA are confirmed. A baseline formulation of difunctional Br-VE and styrene (40 wt %) is mixed with a commercial brominated vinyl ester resin (Derakane 510-40A) in ratios of 20, 50 and 80 pph. Two reduced styrene content formulations of Br-VER (30 wt % styrene and 20 wt % styrene) were also prepared. The thermomechanical properties of all seven neat resin formulations were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), rheology and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The autocatalytic cure kinetics parameters and chemorheological behavior enable development of a cure cycle for the thermosetting resin. The DMA results demonstrate that all resin formulations comprising Br-VER exhibit improved mechanical performance as compared to the commercial vinyl ester resin.
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•The synthesis and formulation of a novel brominated vinyl ester resin is shown.•The resin chemorheology, cure kinetics and thermomechanical behavior are tested.•Resin mechanical properties exceed those of its commercial counterpart.