The Utility of Sterically Hindered Monomers in Corrosion Resistant Unsaturated Polyester Resins

摘要

Corrosion resistant resins continue to be a viable choice for infrastructure needs and other environments not suited for materials such as steel and aluminum. The market for corrosion resistant resins consists of three major types: epoxy, vinyl ester, and traditional unsaturated polyesters. Epoxy resins offer the best performance, followed by vinyl esters and unsaturated polyesters. The performance of each is related to the chemistry used to prepare the polymer, polymer characteristics, and method of crosslinking. Of these, unsaturated polyesters offer reasonable performance and cost. However, traditional unsaturated polyesters are often overlooked when hydrolytic stability and alkaline resistance are an issue due to the multiple ester bonds formed when preparing the polymer. Protecting these bonds by selecting bulky, sterically hindered monomers has proven to be a viable method for extending the utility of polyesters in those applications where a vinyl ester or epoxy resin would be more than adequate performance wise, but a poor choice economically. This paper will discuss how the structures of monomers can be used to fortify traditional polyester corrosion resins.