Cerium Salts: An Efficient Curing Catalyst for Benzoxazine Based Coatings

The effect of three different cerium salts (Ce(NO3)(3)6H(2)O, CeCl(3)7H(2)O and Ce(OOCCH3)(3)5H(2)O) on the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of a model diamine-based benzoxazine (4EP-pPDA) was investigated. With the incorporation of the cerium salts, the curing temperature of 4EP-pPDA is reduced substantially, and the glass transition temperatures of the resulting networks are increased significantly. The three cerium salts exhibit different catalytic activities, which were analyzed by FT-IR, NMR, and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). Ce(NO3)(3)6H(2)O was found to exhibit the best catalytic effect, which seems to be related to its better dispersibility within 4EP-pPDA benzoxazine precursors.