Enhancing the solvent resistance and thermomechanical properties of thermoplastic acrylic polymers and composites via reactive hybridisation

This work demonstrates the use of an engineering thermoplastic, poly(phenylene ether) (PPE) to enhance the solvent resistance and thermomechanical properties of liquid acrylic resin matrix composites by a reactive hybridisation route. Oligomeric PPE with vinyl functionality was employed to attain chemical reactivity between the two constituents during the in-situ polymerisation process. Both unreinforced polymer blends and glass fibre-reinforced composites were studied; physical insights into the polymer structure and properties were obtained through complementary spectroscopic analysis, thermal analysis and microscopy. Spectroscopic analysis revealed the formation of multi-component mixtures in the blends, containing both CDCl3-soluble and -insoluble constituents, with the latter likely corresponding to a reacted acrylic/PPE species. These findings show that incorporating reactive PPE into a reactive acrylic resin to produce a hybrid-matrix system is a simple, yet effective strategy towards enhancing solvent resistance (mass retention: 98% – PPE-modified; 72% – unmodified), while simultaneously enhancing the glass transition temperature (+9%) in acrylic-matrix composites.