Mechanical Properties of Flexibilized Anhydride - Epoxy Systems

Epoxy/anhydride formulations are widely used for industrial application due to their excellent balance of thermomechanical properties combined with superior electricalinsulation. An inherent limitation of the typical epoxy/anhydride systems comes from the relative brittleness of the composition. A conventional approach to solve thisissue involves the flexibilization of the epoxy/anhydride network, for instance with liquid rubbers [1, 2], thermoplasticmodified epoxies [3, 4], or polyol modified anhydrides [5]. This paper reports the influence of polyol (PPG poly(propylene glycol)) which pre-reacted with the anhydridehardener as a flexibilizer on the mechanical properties of epoxy/anhydride casting formulations