Synthesis, curing kinetics and properties of novel aromatic multifunctional epoxy resin

A novel aromatic multifunctional epoxide tri (2, 3-epoxypropyl phenyl) methane (TEP) was synthesized by starting from p-dibromobenzene, and its chemical structure was confirmed by FT-IR and NMR. Non-isothermal DSC showed that the TEP-MTHPA system had autocatalytic characteristics during the curing process when methyltetrahydrophthalic anhydride (MTHPA) was used as the reagent, which was in line with the autocatalytic model. As comparison, a commercially available epoxy resin, the tris(4-hydroxyphenyl) methane triglycidyl ether (TMTE), cured with the same curing agents was also investigated. The experimental outcomes indicate that the cured TEP resin exhibits excellent thermal stability, boasting a glass transition temperature of 172.4 °C and a thermal decomposition temperature at 5 % weight loss standing at 370.5 °C. Furthermore, the cured TEP resin surpasses the cured TMTE resin in electrical properties, with a volume resistivity of 1.07 × 10 17  Ω·cm, representing a 650 % increase, and a breakdown voltage of 37.01 kV/mm, representing a 50 % augmentation. Nevertheless, owing to the existence of flexible ether bonds, the cured TEP resin lags behind the cured TMTE resin in terms of mechanical properties.