Mechanical and physicochemical properties of matrices for fiber reinforced plastics based on low-melting phthalonitrile monomers

The mechanical properties of cured phthalonitrile matrices for fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) based on low-melting phenylmethylsilanediyl-bis[oxymethylene(1,4-phenylene-4'-oxyphthalodinitrile)] (1) or its mixture with 1,3-phenylene-bis(oxy-4-phthalodinitrile) (2, comonomer) were studied. The flexural strength, Young's modulus, fracture toughness, and some other characteristics of the cured resins based on monomer 1 (PN-1) and the mixture of monomers 1 and 2 (PN-1m) were determined. It is noted that the PN-1 resin can be processed by vacuum infusion and the PN-1m resin can be processed by compression injection molding. The developed resins are promising as materials for high-tech aerospace applications.