Flame retardant epoxy polymers using phosphorus‐containing polyalkylene amines as curing agents

Abstract

Abstract Two series of novel phosphorus‐containing poly(alkylene) amines with or without aromatic groups were synthesized via reacting phosphoryl chloride derivatives with commercially available polyetheramines, ethylenediamine and N‐phenyl‐1,4‐phenylenediamine, respectively. Chemical structures of the amines were characterized with FTIR, NMR, P (phosphorus) content measurement, and amine content titration. These amines were then utilized as curing agents to react with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A for preparing phosphorus containing epoxy polymers. The introduction of soft PO linkage, polyalkyene, and hard aromatic group into the backbones of the synthesized phosphorus‐containing amine (PCA) provides epoxy resins with tunable flexibility. Thermal analysis of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) reveals that these resulted epoxy resins possess moderate T g 's and thermal stability. Furthermore, high char yields in TGA and high limited oxygen index (LOI) values indicate that these phosphorus‐containing epoxy (PCE) resins are capable of exhibiting excellent flame retardant properties. These polymers can be potentially utilized in flame retardant epoxy coatings and other applications. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 3526–3538, 2001