Epoxy resin: an indispensable assistant in all industries

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Epoxy resin is a substance with great resistance to acids, halogens and alkalis. This is a synthetic oligomer. It can be used to glue almost any material. In the liquid state, it is a transparent epoxy resin that has a yellow-orange color, and after hardening it turns brown and is practically safe for he alth. However, it cannot be used where there may be potential contact with solvents that wash out the sol fractions. In its liquid state, it is very toxic, so its use requires a certain set of rules.

Of course, it cannot be used for gluing dishes or other items that come into contact with food or drinking water, there are other substances for this. However, due to its properties, epoxy resin is an indispensable assistant in a very wide range of industries. Two main ways of using this material: as an adhesive and impregnation. With its help, concrete and metal are protected from corrosion, casting molds are made, various, even very important, parts are glued together in almost all branches of engineering. Epoxy resin and fiberglass arestarting materials for the production of fiberglass, widely used in construction, ship and aircraft construction. Also, the first one is used for pouring in electronics and even in design.

Epoxy resin is used in tandem with a hardener. Where heat treatment is unacceptable, in domestic conditions, in small workshops, cold substances are used. And for important products designed to work under high static and dynamic loads, in aggressive environments - hot curing reagents. In this case, a denser network is formed that holds the polymer molecules together. In addition, there are epoxy resins and hardeners designed specifically for high humidity, s alt water conditions.

When working with it in everyday life, it is necessary to understand that when it is combined with a hardener, an exothermic reaction occurs, and the greater the mass of the polymer, the more heat is generated. In this regard, it is necessary to correctly choose the amount of substance and correlate it with the purpose of use, since the result should be a uniform (without bubbles) solid substance. In addition, the reaction of the hardener and resin is irreversible, and after it the thermoplastic, unlike the thermoplastic, cannot be melted or dissolved to remake the result.

The most common and affordable substances for curing epoxy materials today are PEPA, DETA, TETA, TEPA and No. 1 (hexamethylenediamine dissolved in ethyl alcohol). Due to the fact that the usuala two-component compound is a rather fragile thing, its elasticity is increased by adding another component. This element is called "elasticizer", it can have a different chemical composition and, depending on this, have certain characteristics. True, chemists have already discovered materials that have the ability to act as both a hardener and an elasticizer.