Reaction kinetics and physical properties of unsaturated polyester modified with methylacyloxylpropyl-POSS

The polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes which contains methylacryloylpropyl group (MAP-POSS) was synthesized and used to modify unsaturated polyester resin (UPR). The cure kinetics was investigated by isothermal DSC technique. The mechanical and electrical properties of fiberglass-reinforced laminate were determined. The result shows that the reaction can be described by a Kamal autocatalytic model which has two reaction rate constants k ₁ and k ₂, and two apparent activation energies E _a1 and E _{a 2} are 98.12 kJ/mol and 74.01 kJ/mol, respectively. UPR and MAP-POSS can co-cure in free radical polymerization. When the MAP-POSS content is 5 wt%, the impact and tensile strength of fiberglass-reinforced laminate enhanced 10% and 6%, respectively, and has better electrical properties than no MAP-POSS. The dielectric constant ε and dielectric loss tanδ are all decrease. The surface resistance ρ _s is 4.7 times higher than pure UPR laminates