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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mater.
Sec. Polymeric and Composite Materials
Volume 12 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fmats.2025.1552713
This article is part of the Research Topic Development of High-Performance Resin Matrix Composites - Volume II View all 4 articles
High-performance epoxy vitrimer from commercial epoxy-anhydride with reprocessable and chemical degradable properties
Provisionally accepted
Liang Gao 1*
Hao Wang 2 Xuan Yao 2* Zhiran Zheng 1* Liyu Wang 2* Zixuan Wang 2* Yonggui Wang 2* Baoyan Zhang 1* Xianghai Jing 3*
Jianqiao Wu 2*- 1 AVIC Manufacturing Technology Institute Composite Technology Center, Beijing, China
- 2 Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, China
- 3 Lianyungang Lianxin FRP Co., Ltd, Lianyungang, China
Epoxy vitrimer is a kind of recyclable polymer that can reconstruct their network topology through chemical bond exchange reactions, providing an innovative solution for the thermosets recycling dilemma. However, current vitrimers have not yet reached the level of commercial epoxy resins, especially in performance and preparation process. In this study, high-performance epoxy vitrimer has been prepared using a commercial epoxy-anhydride. In the presence of 1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD) as an internal catalyst, both mechanical and thermal properties were improved significantly because of the complete curing reaction facilitated by TBD. With the addition of catalyst TBD, the tensile strength, modulus, elongation at break and the glass transition temperature (Tg) of materials increased from 49.12 to 79.27 MPa, 2080.96 to 2266.19 MPa, 2.78% to 3.86%, and 94 to 132°C respectively. Meanwhile, the network rearrangement rate improved, in which the stress relaxation time (τ*) of networks declined from 19 min to 10 min at 200°C. Taking advantages of dynamic properties, these vitrimers can be reshaped and chemically degraded. Furthermore, carbon fiber composites are fabricated by using vitrimer as matrix, which can be successfully recycled with chemical degradation process at 160°C within 1 h. This research facilitates the development of recyclable epoxy and composites that exhibits significant potential for commercial applications.
Keywords: Epoxy, Vitrimer, Transesterification reactions, Reprocessable, carbon fiber composites
Received: 29 Dec 2024; Accepted: 03 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Wang, Yao, Zheng, Wang, Wang, Wang, Zhang, Jing and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Liang Gao, AVIC Manufacturing Technology Institute Composite Technology Center, Beijing, China
Xuan Yao, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, China
Zhiran Zheng, AVIC Manufacturing Technology Institute Composite Technology Center, Beijing, China
Liyu Wang, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, China
Zixuan Wang, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, China
Yonggui Wang, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, China
Baoyan Zhang, AVIC Manufacturing Technology Institute Composite Technology Center, Beijing, China
Xianghai Jing, Lianyungang Lianxin FRP Co., Ltd, Lianyungang, China
Jianqiao Wu, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, China
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