Study on Influence of Surface Plasma Activation of Quartz Fiber/Cyanate Ester Composite at Meter Range Working Distance

The surface of quartz fiber/cyanate ester composite at meter working distance was activated by plasma treatment technology. Influence of plasma treatment parameters on surface contact angle of the composite was investigated, as well as changes of surface morphology, intrinsic performance and membrane-based bonding strength. Results showed that surface contact angle of the composite decreased significantly after plasma treatment with nitrogen and argon. Moreover, activation effect of argon plasma was better than that of nitrogen plasma. With the increase of voltage, surface contact angle of composite became smaller and activation effect was better. After plasma treatment, glass transition temperature (Tg) and bending strength of the composite did not change, and intrinsic property of the composite was not damaged. After plasma treatment, surface roughness and specific surface area of the composite increased, and membrane-based bonding strength of the composite with Al coating increased significantly.

Exploration of a new affordable thermal protection system utilizing 2.5D silica/polysiloxane composite

Ablative materials are used as thermal protection systems (TPS) for reentry vehicles and solid rocket motor (SRM) nozzle applications. Phenolic and cyanate ester are the state-of-the-art (SOTA) resin systems used in many of the ablative composites today, including MX-2600 (silica/phenolic) from Cytec Solvay Group. While these ablatives have worked well, more demanding requirements drive the need for affordable lightweight advanced composites capable of handling high heat fluxes with minimal mass loss. These advanced ablative composites result in lighter reentry heat shields and solid rocket motors, increasing payload capabilities of spacecraft and rockets. Molding compound made of aerospace grade 99% SiO2 fabric and polysiloxane resin showed considerable improvement over MX-2600 in ablation properties in recent studies. In order to meet increased mechanical strength demands, NASA recently developed an ablative composite using a 3D quartz woven/cyanate ester composite material designed for the Orion spacecraft. While 3D woven composites provide excellent out-of-plane mechanical and ablation properties, they are very expensive, which limits their application. This research explores needle-punched silica fabric, sometimes referred to as 2.5D, which provides similar out-of-plane mechanical benefits to 3D woven composites in a more flexible VARTM manufacturing process at a much lower cost. The needle-punched silica fabric was infiltrated with polysiloxane resin and mechanical tests were performed. The needle-punched composites showed an increase of 181% in flexural strength, 27% in interlaminar shear strength, 2% in tensile strength, and 13% in compressive strength. In aerothermal ablation tests, the 2.5D out-performed the 2D laminate in char yield, mass loss, and recession rate; and in char yield and mass loss (%), the 2.5D out-performed the industry standard MX-2600 molding compound. The increased out-of-plane strength and char yield make it a promising and affordable ablative candidate for ablation performance with enhanced mechanical properties.

Cyanate Ester Resin/Silica subnanocomposites and their superiority over nanocomposites due to fundamental role of constrained interfacial dynamics

The study of nanostructure, thermal and relaxation properties (by HAADF-STEM, EDXS, DMA and DSC), combined with the calculations of interparticle distances and interfacial areas, has been performed for a series of the hybrid Cyanate Ester Resin (CER)/Si02 polymer composites with 0.01 to 10 wt.% Si02 units introduced via a sol-gel process. The absence of clusterization, arising only subnanometric Si02 nodes and their quasi-regular distribution within the amorphous matrix, with the shortest distances between nodes, provided their exceptional positive impact on the matrix properties at ultra-low Si02 contents of 0.03-0.1 wt.%. The superiority of these subnanocomposites over the nanocomposites was determined by the role of constrained interfacial dynamics over the whole matrix.

Thermal behaviour of benzoxazine blends based on epoxy and cyanate ester

In the present work, an attempt has been made to develop high-performance polymeric hybrid binary blends of epoxy/benzoxazine and benzoxazine/cyanate ester with varying weight percentages (25/75, 50/50 and 75/25 wt%) of resins, namely, bisphenol-F epoxy resin (DGEBF), benzoxazines [bisphenol–F/aniline (BF-a) and imidazole core-based bisphenol/aniline (IBP-a)] and cyanate ester [bisphenol-F bifunctional cyanate ester (BF-CE)]. The molecular structure, polymerisation temperature/cure behaviour, glass transition temperature (Tg) and thermal stability of the neat polymeric matrices and binary hybrid blends of polymeric matrices were characterised using different analytical techniques, viz. Fourier Transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (NMR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Among the binary hybrid blends, the lowest polymerisation temperatures (Tp) were noticed in the case of blends of epoxy/benzoxazine were 219°C for DGEBF/BF-a (25/75 wt%) and 170°C for DGEBF/IBP-a (25/75 wt%). Similarly, in the case of blends of benzoxazine/cyanate ester, the lowest values of Tp observed were 155°C and 153°C for BF-a/BF-CE (75/25 wt%) and IBP-a/BF-CE (75/25 wt%), respectively. The highest values of Tg observed for the blends of epoxy/benzoxazine were 175°C and 254°C for DGEBF/BF-a (25/75 wt%) and DGEBF/IBP-a (25/75 wt%), respectively. Whereas, the highest values of Tg observed in the case of blends of benzoxazine/cyanate ester were 234°C and 278°C for BF-a/BF-CE (25/75 wt%) and IBP-a/BF-CE (75/25 wt%), respectively. From the TGA results of blends, the maximum degradation temperature (Tmax) and limiting oxygen index (LOI) value calculated from the char yield, which ascertain that almost all the binary hybrid blends of epoxy/benzoxazine and benzoxazine/cyanate ester possess good flame retardant behaviour.