Study on a Vinyl Ester/Methyl Methacrylate Based Reactive Acrylic Adhesive Toughened by Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene

Abstract The effect of addition of a hydroxyl-terminated liquid polybutadiene (HTPB) rubber on the morphology, adhesive, thermal and mechanical properties of a vinyl ester (VE)/methyl methacrylate (MMA) based reactive acrylic adhesive has been investigated. Phase separation was observed in the cured HTPB-modified acrylic adhesive. Low levels of HTPB enhanced the adhesive properties and the optimum adhesive strength was observed at about 10wt% HTPB. HTPB modification had no significant effect on the thermal properties, but decreased the mechanical strength, which was attributed to the inadequate bonding of the rubber particles. Introduction of a chemical link between HTPB and VE by toluene diisocyanate coupling showed significant improvement in adhesive and mechanical strength. Key Words: Reactive acrylic adhesivevinyl esterrubber-modified adhesivejoint strengthglass transition temperaturemorphology