Abstract
This review describes the modification of thermosetting plastics by N-phenylmaleimide-styrene copolymers. Thermosetting plastics include epoxy and bismaleimide resins. N-Phenylmaleimide-styrene copolymer (PMS) was prepared by radical polymerization of N-phenylmaleimide and styrene and has a high transition temperature of over 200°C. PMS was dissolved in the epoxy and bismaleimide resins without solvents by heating and an effective modifier for both modification systems. Toughening can be achieved by cocontinuous phase structure of the modified resins in both epoxy and bismaleimide resin systems, where fracture toughness KIC increased considerably with a medium loss of flexural strength. The decrease in flexural strength can be restored by using terpolymers (PMSH) containing p-hydroxyphenyl unit as a reactive group. When using PMS/PMSH hybrid modifiers, the modified epoxy resins had balanced properties.
