May 12, 2016
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Case Western Reserve University Ishida
Cleveland — A Case Western Reserve University professor briefed SPE Thermoset TopCon attendees on a rarity: a new polymer, with a big name — polybenzoxazine.
And CSRU is working under a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop a material to protect space ships and astronauts from galactic cosmic rays, said Hatsuo Ishida.
Ishida, who works at CWRU’s Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at the university in Cleveland, said it’s very difficult to commercialize new polymers today.
But polybenzoxazine has gone to that level, he said, because it offers unusual properties that you won’t find in other thermosets, he said. It is favorable to epoxy and phenolics.
“It has an enormously rich molecular design flexibility that allows tailoring an extremely wide range of properties,” Ishida said.
Polybenzoxazine offers some big benefits, Ishida said, including near-zero volumetric changes or expansion, cross-linked density but with a very high modulus, and a surface similar to Teflon, but without using fluorocarbons.
The material has very good thermal stability and flexural strength, and it’s non-igniting.
Key markets include aerospace, energy, and electronic packaging.
Ishida said two materials companies are selling products using the polymer: Huntsman Corp. and Henkel AG & Co.
