Preparation and Curing Behaviour of Epoxy Based Film for Moderate Temperature Prepreg

Bisphenol A epoxy resin and an acid anhydride [chosen from methyltetrahydrophthalic anhydride (Me-THPA), methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) and methyl nadic anhydride (MNA)] were used to prepare epoxy films for hot melt prepreg. The effects of film composition, i.e. type and amount of epoxy resin, curing agent and curing catalyst, were investigated to develop a moderate temperature prepreg, and orthogonal experiments were used to investigate the effect of film composition on the curing behaviour of the epoxy resin film, and to determine the optimal formulation. The most favourable formulation film was cured at 100 °C for 2 h, and its curing degree was characterised by FTIR spectroscopy.