Abstract:
Epoxy resins play a crucial role in providing insulation, support, and protection for the electrification process in transportation. However, the conventional methods of recycling epoxy resins are quite complex and do not align with the sustainability goals of green transportation. There is an urgent need to develop environmentally friendly and recyclable epoxy resins. To address the issues related to the physical, chemical, and electrical properties of recyclable epoxy resins, this paper introduces a novel photothermal dual-curing method that combines photosensitive oil-based resin with epoxy resin. This innovative approach leverages the transesterification mechanism to recover the dual-curing epoxy resin under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions without the need for a catalyst. Remarkably, the recovered resin retains excellent physical, chemical, and electrical properties. The study demonstrates that the initial properties of the dual-curing epoxy resin are promising. The quality of the recovered resin improves with smaller resin particle sizes and higher hot pressing pressures. After undergoing a hot pressing process at 220℃ and 10 MPa for 3 h, the recovered resin exhibits its best comprehensive properties, with recovery rates of 92.0% for bending strength and 93.7% for tensile strength. Furthermore, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss at power frequency remain largely unchanged compared to their values before recovery, with a remarkable breakdown strength recovery rate of 98.4%. This research highlights the significant potential and application prospects of dual-curing epoxy resin in advancing the electrification of transportation.