A facile synthesis of cyanate ester silica hybrid nanocomposites by in situ sol-gel method

Abstract

High performance cyanate ester—silica hybrid nanocomposites were prepared using the sol—gel method through in situ reaction. The methodology adopted here was the formation of a covalent bond between the bisphenol-A cyanate ester (CE) and silica matrix utilizing γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (γ-APS) as coupling agent. The covalent bond formation in the hybrid was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared analysis and solvent extraction. Thermal and morphological properties of the hybrid materials were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The CE—silica hybrids show improved thermal properties. The double degradation curves observed from thermogravimetric analysis may be due to the weak adduct linkage and the cleavage of the triazine ring in the hybrid. The nitrogen porosimetry study confirmed the molecular level dispersion of cyanate ester in the cyanate ester—silica hybrid nanocomposites.