The interface of a rubber-toughened epoxy resin was modified by using epoxide end-capped carboxyl-terminated butadiene and acrylonitrile random copolymer (CTBN). The end-capping epoxides were formulated with different ratios of flexible diglycidyl ether of propylene glycol (DER732) and rigid diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (Epon 828). The microstructure and the fracture behavior of these rubber-modified epoxy resins were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The thermal and mechanical properties were also investigated. With an increase in the amount of end-capping DER732, the interfacial zone of an undeformed rubber particle and the degree of cavitation of the rubber cavity on the fracture surface were greatly increased. At the maximal addition of DER732, fracture energy (GIc) for this toughened epoxy resin containing 10phr CTBN rubber increases up to 2.4 fold compared to that of a conventional CTBN-toughened epoxy resin, but the thermal and the mechanical properties remained quite unaffected. The modification on the interfacial property provides a new technique in the improvement of fracture toughness of a rubber-toughened epoxy resin.
