Amphiphilic reactive poly(glycidyl methacrylate)-block-poly(dimethyl siloxane)-block-poly(glycidyl methacrylate) triblock copolymer for the controlling nanodomain morphology of epoxy thermosets

The amphiphilic reactive tricopolymer Poly(glycidylmethacrylate) -b-Poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-Poly(glycidylmethacrylate) (PGMA-b-PDMS-b-PGMA) was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) from the PDMS macro-initiator and glycidylmethacrylate (GMA). The internal structure of the reactive tricopolymer was described by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FITR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The PGMA-b-PDMS-b-PGMA consisted of reactive epoxy-miscible PGMA blocks, which can been involved in the cross-linking network by covalent bonds, and an epoxy-immiscible PDMS block, which separated to give the nanostructures. The morphology of the nanostructure thermosetting blends before and after curing was not much different and as well as the difference in miscibility between its subchains, inferring the formation followed the self-assembly mechanism. Static contact angle measurement and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that the hydrophobic and the glass transition temperature were significantly increased by introducing the reactive triblock copolymer.