Preparation and properties of UV-cured epoxy acrylate/glycidyl-POSS coatings

Epoxy acrylate (EA)/glycidyl-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (G-POSS) nanocomposites were synthesized via in situ ultraviolet initiated polymerization. XRD analysis indicates that G-POSS and EA are miscible and can form uniform composites. SEM micrographs show that the G-POSS particles (< 500 nm in diameter) disperse uniformly in the polymer matrix. The EA/G-POSS nanocomposites exhibit heterogeneous morphology. FTIR analysis confirms the curing reaction is quite complete, and there are no chemical reactions between G-POSS and EA during the UV-curing process. The carbon-carbon double-bond conversion vs time profiles confirm that the addition of G-POSS improves the UV-curing rates of nanocomposites. The glass transition temperature (T (g)) of nanocomposites were obtained by DMA. T (g) reaches to the maximum at the loading of 1 wt% and then decreases with the increasing G-POSS loadings. The thermal stability, impact resistance, and flexibility of nanocomposites are all enhanced by the incorporation of G-POSS.