Glass fiber reinforced high glass transition temperature thiol-ene networks

Although thiol-ene polymers have highly desirable processing properties the networks usually are limited to having characteristically low glass transition temperatures with low strength. This study is one of the first studies to examine a thiol-ene polymer thermoset matrix, having many industrial advantages compared to conventional polymer matrices, reinforced with continuous E-glass fibers. In order to control the interphase, a mercapto functional sizing of 1 wt% is applied to the glass fibers. The resulting composites of 12 vol% fibers are comparable to glass fiber reinforced polyesters in terms of strength with Young's modulus. This work contributes to the furthering of thiol-ene ultra-violet cure systems, with their range of advantageous properties, for use in a broader scope of applications by way of creating a stronger material based on a novel class of thermoset matrix. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.