Editing Epoxy (section)

=== Diluents ===

Epoxy resins diluents are typically formed by glycidylation of aliphatic alcohols or [[polyol]]s and also aromatic alcohols. The resulting materials may be monofunctional (e.g. dodecanol glycidyl ether), difunctional ([[1,4-Butanediol diglycidyl ether]]), or higher functionality (e.g. [[trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether]]). These resins typically display low viscosity at room temperature (10–200 mPa.s) and are often referred to as reactive diluents.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-94-011-5862-6_24 |chapter=Diluents and viscosity modifiers for epoxy resins |title=Plastics Additives |series=Polymer Science and Technology Series |date=1998 |last1=Monte |first1=Salvatore J. |volume=1 |pages=211–216 |isbn=978-94-010-6477-4 }}</ref> They are rarely used alone, but are rather employed to modify (reduce) the viscosity of other epoxy resins.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jagtap |first1=Ameya Rajendra |last2=More |first2=Aarti |title=Developments in reactive diluents: a review |journal=Polymer Bulletin |date=August 2022 |volume=79 |issue=8 |pages=5667–5708 |doi=10.1007/s00289-021-03808-5 }}</ref> This has led to the term ''modified epoxy resin'' to denote those containing viscosity-lowering reactive diluents.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sinha |first1=Animesh |last2=Islam Khan |first2=Nazrul |last3=Das |first3=Subhankar |last4=Zhang |first4=Jiawei |last5=Halder |first5=Sudipta |title=Effect of reactive and non-reactive diluents on thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy resin |journal=High Performance Polymers |date=December 2018 |volume=30 |issue=10 |pages=1159–1168 |doi=10.1177/0954008317743307 }}</ref> The use of the diluent does effect mechanical properties and microstructure of epoxy resins.<ref name="Khalina effect of reactive diluent">{{cite journal |last1=Khalina |first1=Morteza |last2=Beheshty |first2=Mohammad Hosain |last3=Salimi |first3=Ali |title=The effect of reactive diluent on mechanical properties and microstructure of epoxy resins |journal=Polymer Bulletin |date=August 2019 |volume=76 |issue=8 |pages=3905–3927 |doi=10.1007/s00289-018-2577-6 }}</ref> Mechanical properties of epoxy resins are generally not improved by use of diluents.<ref name="Khalina effect of reactive diluent"/> Biobased epoxy diluents are also available.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Jie |last2=Nie |first2=Xiaoan |last3=Liu |first3=Zengshe |last4=Mi |first4=Zhen |last5=Zhou |first5=Yonghong |title=Synthesis and Application of Polyepoxide Cardanol Glycidyl Ether as Biobased Polyepoxide Reactive Diluent for Epoxy Resin |journal=ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering |date=June 2015 |volume=3 |issue=6 |pages=1164–1171 |doi=10.1021/acssuschemeng.5b00095 }}</ref>