MODIFICATION IN MECHANICAL & THERMAL PROPERTIES OF EPOXY THROUGH BLENDING WITH POLY (VINYL ACETATE)

Abstract

Epoxy resins are a class of thermoset materials used extensively in structural and specialty composite applications because they offer a unique combination of properties that are unattainable with other thermoset resins. Available in a wide variety of physical forms from low-viscosity liquid to high-melting solids, they are amenable to a wide range of processes and applications. Epoxies offer high strength, low shrinkage, excellent adhesion to various substrates, effective electrical insulation, chemical and solvent resistance, low cost, and low toxicity. They are easily cured without evolution of volatiles or by-products by a broad range of chemical specie. Epoxy resins are also chemically compatible with most substrates and tend to wet surfaces easily, making them especially well-suited to composites applications. Epoxy resin are characterized by more than one 1, 2- epoxy group per molecule. Three-membered epoxy ring is highly reactive to many substances, particularly by with proton donor (eg: amine, anhydride).