Abstract:Toughening of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A(E-51)-based epoxy resin and TDE-85 with liquid
carboxyl-terminated butadiene acrylonitrile(CTBN) copolymer has been investigated in this research. Shape memory
epoxy resin of CTBN/ EP was prepared by using tetrahydromethyl-1,3-isobenzofurandione(METHPA) as a curing agent.
The characteristics of the blends were investigated by tensile test, SEM, DMA and FTIR. Blends with varying
proportions of CTBN/ EP were studied for their mechanical properties, thermodynamics ,glass-transition temperature
and shape memory properties. The test results show that the toughness of epoxy resin was improved by adding CTBN.
And the glass-transition temperature also decreased accordingly. Moreover, the material exhibited a good shape memory
performance, the shape recovery and the shape fixity of this material can achieve 100% and 97%, respectively.
