Thermal Stability of Allyl-Functional Phthalonitriles-Containing Benzoxazine/Bismaleimide Copolymers and Their Improved Mechanical Properties

Copolymerization is the typical method to obtain the high-performance resin composites, due to its universality and regulation performance. It can be employed among various resin matrices with active groups to obtain the desired structures, and subsequently, the outstanding properties. In this work, the copolymerization between the allyl-functional phthalonitrile-containing benzoxazine resin (DABA-Ph) and 4,4′-bis(Maleimidodiphenyl)methane (BMI) were monitored. The interactions among the active groups including allyl moieties, maleimide, benzoxazine rings and nitrile groups were investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic rheological analysis (DRA) were used to study the curing behaviors and the processing properties. The possible curing processes were proposed and confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Then, glass fiber-reinforced DABA-Ph/BMI composites were designed, and their thermal-mechanical properties were studied. Results indicated that all the composites exhibited outstanding flexural strength, flexural modulus, and high glass-transition temperatures (T(g) > 450 °C). The thermal stability of the composites was studied by thermogravimetry (TGA) and evaluated by the integral program decomposition temperature (IPDT). it is believed that the excellent thermal mechanical properties and outstanding T(g) as well as good thermal stability would enable the reinforced copolymer-based laminates to be applied in wider fields.