Synthesis and characterization of acrylic modified epoxy prepolymers for UV-curable adhesives

Five kinds of epoxy acrylate reactive prepolymers with different molecular weight (MW) were synthesized and used to formulate the UV-curable adhesives by the addition of photo-initiator, reactive diluent, crosslinker and other additives as necessary. The structural characterization of the prepolymers was made by FT-IR and 1H-NMR spectra respectively, while the structural changement before and after UV-curing was characterized by FT-IR. MW of the said prepolymers were measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Tensile shear adhesive strength of all the adhesives at different temperature were tested. Furthermore, an organo silane was incorporated in a comparative UV-curable adhesive sample to examine the effect of it on thermal stability and corrosion resistance of the adhesive.