Bislactone curing agents for epoxy resins and polymers obtained therefrom

摘要

Bislactone curing agents are used to cure and copolymerize with epoxy-based resins. Preferably, the copolymerization is performed using a tertiary amine catalyst. During cure, the bislactone ring opens and expands. The use of bislactones as curing agents for epoxy-based resins avoids the shrinkage and accompanying stresses which occur when epoxy-based resins are cured conventionally. The novel bislactone cured epoxy-based polymers according the present invention are less prone to failure than are conventional epoxy-based polymers. In a further embodiment, the epoxy is copolymerized with a novel bislactone monomer having at least one trifluoromethyl group. The resulting fluorinated copolymer has a reduced surface energy.