Vinyl Ester Toughness via Sulfonated Polymer and Reactive Diluent
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Vinyl ester resins used in composite materials have low toughness due to immiscibility issues with thermoplastic polymers like polyethersulfone, limiting their application and requiring expensive copolymers for improvement.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a thermoplastic sulfonated polyaromatic polymer and a reactive diluent, such as N-vinyl lactam, into the vinyl ester monomer composition to enhance toughness, allowing for miscibility and higher toughness gains.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If polyethersulfone is incorporated into vinyl ester resin to improve toughness, then toughness increases, but immiscibility occurs leading to phase separation and failed reinforcement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a compatibilizer (coupling agent) as an intermediary substance between polyethersulfone and vinyl ester resin. This compatibilizer has compatible functional groups that interact with both polymers, enabling miscibility and preventing phase separation while maintaining toughness enhancement. The coupling agent acts as a molecular bridge that resolves the immiscibility issue.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the chemical parameters of the system by introducing a coupling agent with specific functional groups. This changes the intermolecular interaction parameters between polyethersulfone and vinyl ester resin, transforming them from immiscible to miscible. The coupling agent alters the chemical compatibility parameters to enable homogeneous mixing.
2Strength
If BPA-Px copolymer is used to increase toughness of vinyl ester resin, then toughness gains up to 88% are achieved, but the cost of the copolymer becomes excessively high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the expensive BPA-Px copolymer with a more economical coupling agent and polyethersulfone combination. This substitution uses cheaper materials to achieve the same toughness enhancement effect, significantly reducing the cost while maintaining or improving performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential functional requirement (toughness enhancement through miscible thermoplastic incorporation) from the expensive BPA-Px copolymer solution and achieves it through a different, more economical pathway using polyethersulfone plus coupling agent, eliminating the need for costly copolymer synthesis.
3Strength
If thermoplastic polymer is dissolved in thermosetting resin and then hot polymerized to improve toughness, then toughness increases through phase separation, but the process complexity increases with two-stage manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the thermoplastic polymer dissolution and polymerization steps into a single integrated process. The coupling agent enables the thermoplastic and thermosetting resin to remain miscible throughout the polymerization process, eliminating the need for separate dissolution and hot polymerization stages while still achieving toughness enhancement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the functional requirements: the coupling agent handles the miscibility function, the thermoplastic polymer provides the toughness enhancement function, and the vinyl ester resin provides the structural matrix function. This functional segmentation allows each component to perform its specific role efficiently without requiring complex multi-stage processing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves toughness gains exceeding those with BPA-Px copolymers, applicable to both cold and hot polymerizable vinyl ester resins, with materials exhibiting high toughness and glass transition temperatures suitable for aerospace and space applications.
Implementation Method 1
dissolving the vinyl ester monomer and the thermoplastic polymer in a reactive diluent in which they are both soluble
Implementation Method 2
capable of undergoing a polymerization/crosslinking reaction thanks to the presence of at least two reactive sites... whether under the effect of heat, light (visible light, UV or IR), ionizing radiation
Data Source
Figure 1~2B
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for increasing the toughness of a material achieved by means of curing a composition including at least one vinyl ester monomer. Said method includes incorporating a sulfonated polyaromatic thermoplastic polymer into said composition, carried out by dissolving the vinyl ester monomer and the thermoplastic polymer in a reactive diluent in which both are soluble. The invention also relates to a curable compound including at least one vinyl ester monomer and enabling the production of materials having a very high toughness, as well as to a material obtained by curing said composition. The invention can be used in the aeronautical, space, railroad, naval, automobile, and arms industries, etc.