The strong toughening effect with excellent fluorescence property of Eu3+-induced polystyrene-polyacrylic acid nanoaggregates on cyanate esters

Cyanate Ester Resins (CERs) are widely recognized for their excellent thermal stability and chemical resistance. However, their brittleness and high curing temperature limit their applications in key areas. To overcome these critical problems, this study investigates the enhancement of europium (Eu 3+ )-induced polystyrene- co -polyacrylic acid nano-aggregates (EIPAs) on the mechanical properties of EIPAs-doped bisphenol F dicyanate resin (EIPAs/F-CER). This modified F-CER exhibits significant improvements in tensile strength and flexural strength at the optimized concentration of 0.8 wt% EIPAs, corresponding to increases of 102.93 % and 121.72 %. At the same time, the thermal stability of this hybrid EIPAs/F-CER increases from 403.89 °C to 412.67 °C. Moreover, the photoluminescence property of the doped F-CER is optimally generated at 0.8 wt% EIPAs content, demonstrating excellent red emission at 612 nm. Therefore, the distinguished innovations of this work are (1) simultaneous enhancement of both mechanical properties and thermal stability, and (2) accompanying excellent red luminescence for potential temperature sensing. These achieved important results indicate that EIPAs are more effective in the mechanical enhancement of F-CER and capable of generating excellent luminescence and thermally stable flexible hybrid materials.