Water retension in a composite structure introduces a long list of negative attributes including a wet-Tg knock down at use temperature, catastrophic part failure due to rapid heating, an increase in galvanic corrosion processes for neighboring/connected metal parts, and an overall weight gain for the structure. The Navy often operates in humid and saltwater environments, which makes water uptake by today's commercial composite resins problematic. Our strategy entails the design of new hyper-hydrophobic resins that will significantly reduce water uptake in polymer matrix composite (PMC) parts. New chemical structures and novel cure chemistries will be investigated, leading to new resins with equal or better composite processing capabilities, eliminating the wet-Tg knock down, and extending the use temperature in high performance aerospace applications. Furthermore, these new prepared hyper-hydrophobic resins will be non-flammable/self-extinguishing, with the latter being critical for the warfighters' safety, asset performance, vulnerability reduction, and survivability.

 

References

Guenther AJ, Wright ME, Yandek GR, Marchant D, Mabry JM, Tsotsis TK, Kollmansberger RB, Byrd N: Development of processable high-temperature resins for composite materials; SAMPE Conference Proceedings 52: 1-12, 2007

Guenther AJ, Wright ME, Yandek GR, Lamison KR, Vig V, Cash JJ, Mabry JM: Relationships among molecular structure, processing, water uptake, and moisture-induced degradation in cyanate ester resins; Abstracts of Papers, 241st ACS National Meeting, March 27-31, 2011 (2011), PMSE-370

 

key words

Matrix resins; Composites; Characterization; Curing; Processing; End-cap chemistry; Moisture uptake; Corrosion; Formulations;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral applicants