Flame-retarded epoxy resin with high glass transition temperature cured by DOPO-containing H-benzimidazole

A halogen-free flame retardant of 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide-containing H-benzimidazole (DHBI) was synthesized and subsequently used as co-curing agent of 4,4-diamino-diphenylmethane for diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A. The structure of DHBI was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, proton, carbon 13 and phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectroscopy. A series of cured epoxy resins (EPs) were prepared and their flame retardancy, thermal stability, flexibility, and dielectric properties were investigated. The resulting cured EP (EP-10) with 7.45 wt% of DHBI successfully achieved UL 94 V-0 rate with limited oxygen index of 35.6% and without dropping phenomenon. Compared with the cured pristine EP (EP-00), the glass transition temperature of EP-10 was increased by 6.9 degrees C, accompanied with an enhancement of flexible strength by 13.1 MPa and a decrement of dielectric constant by 0.3 at the testing frequency of 1 MHz.