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Virginia Tech

Synthesis, Processing, and Properties of Silicon-Containing Phthalonitrile Resins

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Hybrid inorganic-organic resins may provide higher temperature performance in oxidizing environments than their organic counterparts. Phthalonitrile (PN) polymers are excellent candidates for hybridization due to their high thermal stability and glass transition temperatures and their need for improved long-term oxidative stability and toughness. In this work phenyl-substituted organosilicon linkages were incorporated into PN monomers to investigate their effect on the processing, thermo-mechanical properties, and thermal and oxidative stability. Three hybrid silicon-containing phthalonitrile monomers were synthesized incorporating diphenoxydiphenylsilane, tetraphenylsilane, and hexaphenyldisiloxane moieties. Processability of the polymers was highly dependent on catalyst content and an ideal concentration was determined. The impact on glass transition, coefficient of thermal expansion, stability in TGA, and long-term oxidative stability at 250 °C was evaluated. As-synthesized materials performed significantly better than polymers produced from purified monomers. Degradation of the tetraphenylsilane phthalonitrile monomer was examined in detail via IR-TGA and analysis of aged samples. Multiple degradations were identified involving both the organic and hybrid sections of the polymer. Synthesized materials are compared with commercial phthalonitrile reference materials and to other silicon-phthalonitriles in recent literature. Explanations of behavior and suggestions for future improvements are provided.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
PHD
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Materials Science and Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Materials Science and Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2019

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Monzel, William Jacob
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Lu, Guo Quan
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Staley, Thomas W.
  • Suchicital, Carlos T. A.
  • Pruyn, Timothy L.
  • Yee, Gordon T.

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:18407
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/87412

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Monzel, William Jacob. Synthesis, Processing, and Properties of Silicon-Containing Phthalonitrile Resins. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/87412