DENDRITIC-BASED ADDITIVES FOR POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES

Functionalised dendritic hyperbranched polymers (HBP) are used as additives for both thermoset and thermoplastic polymer matrix composites. The main benefits of the HBP modifiers are a toughness increase in thermoset composites and improved fibre/matrix adhesive properties in thermoplastic composites. Moreover, for thermoset composites these additives allow to increase the mechanical performance while fully maintaining the composite processability. For thermoplastic composites, they can also be used to improve processability by achieving a better filler dispersion and mould filling capacity. These property improvements can be attained by exploiting the intrinsically high reactivity and low viscosity of the HBP modifiers and by tailoring their physical and chemical interactions with the other composite constituent materials.