Core-shell particles designed for toughening the epoxy resins. II. Core-shell-particle-toughened epoxy resins

The diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A-m-phenylene diamine (DGEBA-M-PDA) epoxy resin was toughened with various sizes and amounts of reactive core-shell particles (CSP) with butyl acrylate (BA) as a core and methyl methacrylate (MMA) copolymerized with various concentration of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) as a shell. Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) was used to crosslink either core or shell. Among the variables of incorporated CSP indicated above, the optimal design was to obtain the maximum plastic flow of epoxy matrix surrounding the cavitated CSP during the fracture test. It could be achieved by maximizing the content of GMA in a shell-crosslinked CSP, the particle size, and the content of CSP in the epoxy resin without causing the large-scale coagulations. The incorporation of reactive CSP could also accelerate the curing reaction of epoxy resins. Besides, it was able to increase the glass transition temperature of epoxy resins if the particle size less than or equal to 0.25 mu m and the dispersion was globally uniform. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.