High-Branched Organosilicon Epoxy Resin with Low Viscosity, Excellent Toughness, Hydrophobicity, and Dielectric Property

Abstract

Rapidly developing technology places higher demands on materials, thus the simultaneous improvement of materials’ multiple properties is a hot research topic. In this work, a high-branched silicone epoxy resin (QSiE) was synthesized and applied to the curing system of bisphenol A epoxy resin (DGEBA) for modification investigations. When 6 wt% QSiE was added to the system, the viscosity dropped by 51.8%. The mechanical property testing results indicated that QSiE could significantly enhance the material’s toughness while preserving good rigidity. The impact strength was enhanced by 1.31 times when 6wt% of QSiE was introduced. Additionally, the silicon skeleton in QSiE has low surface energy and low polarizability, which could endow the material with good hydrophobic and dielectric properties. This work provided a new idea for the preparation of high-performance epoxy resin additives, and provided a broad prospect for cutting-edge applications of epoxy resins.

Keywords

• silicone resins
• viscosity reduction
• toughening
• hydrophobicity
• dielectric properties