Improvement in fracture behaviors of epoxy resins toughened with sulfonated poly(ether sulfone)

The sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) (SPES) was successfully prepared using chlorosulfonic acid as a sulfonating agent. Diglycidylether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resins were modified with different contents of SPES, and the thermal and mechanical interfacial properties of DGEBA/SPES blends were investigated. As a result, the surface free energy of the blends was increased by the addition of SPES. DSC measurements revealed that the curing reaction was delayed with the increase of SPES content. Whereas, the thermal stabilities of the blends were slightly decreased as the SPES content increased. Meanwhile, the glass transition temperature and fracture toughness of the blends were increased with increasing SPES content, due to the improved intermolecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, between the hydroxyl group of DGEBA and the sulfonic group of SPES in the blends. The agreement could be observed by SEM which revealed phase separated morphology of DGEBA/SPES blends.