Effect of grafting on phase volume fraction, composition, and mechanical behavior: Epoxy/poly (n‐butyl acrylate) simultaneous interpenetrating networks

Grafted simultaneous interpenetrating polymer networks (SINs) were prepared from Epon 828 epoxy resin and n‐butyl acrylate monomer. The amount of grafting monomer (glycidyl methacrylate) was found to effect profound changes in the morphology and mechanical behavior of these materials. While the size of the dispersed rubbery phase increased from approximately 2 microns to 20 microns, the number of domains decreased, with increasing amounts of grafting agent. The total dispersed phase volume decreased with increased grafting. At the highest level of grafting, the two‐phase morphology disappeared, and only one phase was observed. With increased grafting, dynamic mechanical spectroscopy showed a movement of the loss modulus peaks toward each other, confirming an increase in compatibility in the system and showing that the compositions in each phase were becoming more alike. The SIN with the most glycidyl methacrylate (3.0 percent) showed only one peak in the loss modulus curve, supporting the single phase morphology found through microscopy. At the point of compatibility between the two networks, the SIN supermolecular structure may be visualized as becoming one complex network, where the number of grafts between the two polymer chains outnumbers the number of homopolymer crosslinks. The chemical grafts were also shown to significantly alter the free energy of mixing of the two polymers. A grafting level‐composition phase diagram showed that at well defined levels of grafting the free energy of mixing goes from a positive value to a negative value.