Imidazoles-Intercalated α-Zirconium Phosphate as Latent Thermal Initiators in the Reaction of Glycidyl Phenyl Ether (GPE) and Hexahydro-4-Methylphthalic Anhydride (MHHPA)

The capabilities of imidazoles-intercalated α-zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP·imidazole): imidazol (α-ZrP·Im), 2-methylimidazole (α-ZrP·2MIm), and 2-ethyl-4-methylimidazole (α-ZrP·2E4MIm) as latent thermal initiators were examined by the copolymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) and hexahydro-4-methylphthalic anhydride (MHHPA) with the imidazoles-intercalated α-zirconium phosphate at varying temperatures for one-hour periods. Polymerization was not observed until the reactants were heated to 100 °C or above. Increasing the temperature, polymerization in the presence of α-ZrP·Im, α-ZrP·2MIm, or α-ZrP·2E4MIm proceeded at 140 °C for 1 h with over 90% conversion. The thermal stabilities of α-ZrP·Im, α-ZrP·2MIm, and α-ZrP·2E4MIm in the reaction at 40 °C for 264 h were tested. With α-ZrP·2MIm, the conversion was less than 15% up to 96 h. In the cases of α-ZrP·Im and α-ZrP·2E4MIm, the conversion reached less than 15% at 264 h. The thermal stabilities of α-ZrP·Im, α-ZrP·2MIm, and α-ZrP·2E4MIm at 40 °C were superior to those of the commercially available thermal latent initiators: HX-3088 and HX-3722