SEDL / STP / STP1402-EB / STP10708S

Development of Bismaleimide/Cyanate Ester Copolymers

Sisk, BC
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

Chuang, K
NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Pan, W-P
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

Pages: 13    Published: Jan 2001

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Abstract

Since the beginning of the space age, the goal of materials development in the aerospace industry has been to replace metal alloys with much lighter polymer resins, while maintaining the strength over a wide temperature range characteristic of metals. Polymers such as polyimides and epoxies have been used to satisfy many needs, but strength, temperature resistance, and ease of processing are difficult to incorporate into a single polymer.

Because of this gap, bismaleimides and cyanate esters, and possibly combinations of the two, are seen as having potential in applications where ease of processing characteristic of epoxies is desired, but for which temperature resilience better than that of epoxies is desired. In this paper, bismaleimide and cyanate ester compositions based on commercially available monomers are created and evaluated to determine what monomers are favorable.