Morphological, Mechanical and Physio-chemical Performance of ortho-Cresol Epoxy Novolac Based Vinyl Ester Resin

Vinyl ester resin (VEOCN) was prepared from o-cresol epoxy resin (EOCN) and methacrylic acid in the presence of triphenyl phosphine as catalyst and hydroquinone as inhibitor with acid value of ~ 7 mg of KOH per gram of solid. O-cresol based novolac resin (OCN), OCN based epoxy resin (EOCN) and VEOCN were characterized by Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FT-IR), ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR. The thermal and mechanical behavior of the samples prepared at 30°C from VEOCN using styrene and methyl-methacrylate respectively as reactive diluents, in the presence of benzoyl peroxide (2 phr) as initiator was studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Universal Testing Machine (UTM). Chemical resistance of above VER samples was also evaluated as a function of % weight loss and with the help of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), upon immersing the VEOCN samples in different solutions for 90 days.