METALLIFEROUS EPOXY CHELATE POLYMERS .1. SYNTHESIS AND PROPERTIES

A study has been made of the possible synthesis of metalliferous epoxy chelate polymers (MECPs) by hardening of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) with the chelates of metals (Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Fe3+ and Mn4+) and aliphatic amines (ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetramine and cyanoethylated diethylenetriamine). The salts of the metals and organic acids have been combined with the amines to produce the chelates both in solvents (acetone, water) and in the absence of solvents. The complex hardeners were identified by elemental analysis and infra-red spectroscopy. The reactivity of the complexes in reactions with DGEBA and its dependence on the structures of the chelates have been investigated. The properties of epoxy polymers modified by metal cations have been studied. MECPs have been found to possess significant strength. The introduction of cations into the epoxy matrices increases the deformation temperature up to 163-degrees-C and tensile strength up to 100 MPa. The copper-containing polymers exhibit a significant increase in thermal oxidative stability, which becomes comparable with the heat resistance of well known epoxy-anhydride systems.