High-performance thermosets derived from acetovanillone-based reactive polyethers

To achieve high-performance thermosets from renewable resources, six acetovanillone-derived poly(aryl ether)s (two with the acetic moiety, two with the phenyl methacrylic moiety, and two with the vinyl benzyl ether moiety) were prepared. The poly(aryl ether)s with acetic- or phenyl methacrylic moiety were applied as epoxy curing agents to cure with a phenol-dicyclopentadiene epoxy resin (HP7200). The Tg values of the resulting epoxy thermosets range from 228 to 252 °C (DMA data) and the dielectric constants range from 2.78 to 3.01 U (at 3 GHz). The two poly(aryl ether)s with vinyl benzyl ether moiety were self-cured to high-performance thermosets with Tg values of 255 and 293 °C (DMA data) and with a dielectric constant of 2.89 and 2.68 U (at 3 GHz), respectively. This work successfully demonstrates a strategy to achieve high-performance thermosets from reactive polyethers, which are derived from renewable acetovanillone.