ABSTRACT
Thermosets are widely used for structural and non-structural applications because of their good mechanical properties, thermal stability, and outstanding corrosion resistance. However, their use for structural applications, such as in the aerospace industry, is limited by brittleness. The addition of engineering thermoplastics into thermosets has been widely recognized as an alternative to rubber toughening in order to improve the brittleness of epoxy networks, without a significant decrease of desirable properties such as high glass transition temperature, modulus, and chemical resistance [1-4]. The presence of high toughness and good thermal and mechanical properties is a requisite for aeronautical structures. Different thermoplastics have been proposed as thermoset modifiers, including poly(ether imide)s (PEIs) [5,6], polycarbonates [7-9], (poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether or oxide)s (PPE or PPO) [10], and poly(ether sulphone)s (PES) [11].
