Rapidly Cured Multifunctional Epoxy Resins with Switchable Curing Temperature and Exceptional Electrical Properties

Abstract

The use of the coordinated silver (I) complex based on solvate ionic liquid in epoxy resins is reported to enable unprecedented electrical and thermomechanical properties. The novel hybrid material is aligned at the molecular level using an electric field, demonstrating high electrical conductivity, excellent energy storage properties, and rapid curing behavior. The electric-field treated epoxy resin system shows a maximum electric conductivity of 2.05 × 105 S m−1, 20 folds of the same untreated system, and 3 folds of the same treated system but with 5.0% silver nanoparticles. Furthermore, this system shows an ultrafast curing rate of around 500 s at a temperature of 42.0 °C and reveals excellent energy storage achieving an average capacitance of 27.5 F g−1 at a scan rate of 1.0 mV s−1. Quantum mechanics is applied and the synchrotron beamline is utilized to optimize and investigate the properties of the system, opening the door to the next generation of thermoset polymers with multifunctional properties.