Crosslinking of mixtures of DGEBA with 1,6-dioxaspiro[4.4]nonan-2,7-dione initiated by tertiary amines, Part II: Thermo-mechanical properties and reworkability

The copolymerization of a DGEBA epoxy resin and a bislactone was studied using different anionic initiators. In the previous work, the kinetics of the process was studied and the differences were observed which could affect the thermal and mechanical properties of the materials. In the present work, the thermo-mechanical properties of these materials have been investigated. An important influence of the final curing temperature on the thermal properties of the materials was detected. The addition of bislactone improved the thermal degradation of the materials due to the introduction of ester groups into the network, which in turn allowed partial or complete recovery and reworkability of the coated material via hydrolysis of the thermoset. In addition, the materials exhibited superior flexibility and toughness, in comparison to the pure DGEBA material.