Trimethylisophthtalodinitrile Oxide as a Room-Temperature Curing Agent for Curing HTPB

In order to cure hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) at room temperature, Trimethylisophthtalodinitrile oxide (TINO) was synthesized in four steps from mesitylene with total yield of 42.0%. Its structure was characterized by FT-IR ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. Make curing agent TINO/HTPB equals 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20% to prepare the dumbbell-shaped cross-linked polymers. The FT-IR, tensile strength, DSC, TG and contact angle of the cross-linked polymers were tested and analyzed. With the increasing of TINO, tensile strength of cross-linked polymers increased from 0.077 to 0.300 MPa and the elongation at break decreased from about 437 to 104%. The Tg of the crosslink polymers are −75.01, −73.92, −73.42, −70.09 and −71.78 °C, respectively. The contact angles are 116.91°, 100.66°, 93.68°, 86.25° and 87.35°. The results showed that TINO can cure HTPB under room temperature and the cross-linked polymers are expected to be used in the composite solid propellant.