Construction of [P4442]2[IDA]/Zirconium Metal-Organic Framework (UiO-66) for Curing with Epoxy Resin

Curing agents for epoxy resin (EP) are one of the most important branches in the polymer materials field due to their enormous potential in many fields, but constructing them in a well-controlled curing temperature remains challenging. Herein, a novel curing agent is constructed by the zirconium metal-organic framework (UiO-66) and [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA] through an impregnation method. [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA]@UiO-66 is utilized as a functional nanofiller and curing agent to construct the [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA]@UiO-66/EP nanocomposites. The chemical structures of [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA]@UiO-66 were investigated by XRD, SEM, DSC, and TG characterizations. The various [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA]@UiO-66 with different loading amounts of [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA] were used to investigate the curing behaviors of the EP-51. The DSC results confirm that the curing temperature of the [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA]@UiO-66/EP is higher than that of [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA]/EP. In addition, the kinetic parameters and the activation energy of the curing reaction were acquired according to the fitting of Kissinger equation and Ozawa equation. The drying time of [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA]@UiO-66/EP system at 40 °C was enhanced 17 times compare to that of [P 4442 ] 2 [IDA]/EP system. This study opens new avenues for the rational design of EP nanocomposites by employing ionic liquids@MOFs composite materials as curing agent for wide engineering applications.