Page 54 - 《橡塑技术与装备》英文版2026年2期

HINA R&P TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT

Preparation of high-fluidity polyphenylene ether resin
and study on its curing kinetics

Xu Yunxiang, Li Yarui, Tang Yi, Wang Xuanlun*
(College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing 400054, China)
Abstract: This paper prepares low molecular weight polyphenylene ether through a redistribution reaction
and analyzes the influence of the mass factor of the initiator benzoyl peroxide (BPO) in the reaction system
on the molecular weight of the product polyphenylene ether. The molecular structure of the low molecular
weight polyphenylene ether is characterized using infrared spectroscopy. The relative molecular mass of
each product is measured and calculated using the viscosity method. Differential scanning calorimetry
(DSC) is used to measure T i , T p , and T f of the modified polyphenylene ether composite system, and then the
activation energy E a , frequency factor A, and reaction order n are calculated through relevant equations.
The curing reaction kinetics equation is derived from E a , A, and n. Finally, data analysis reveals that there is
only one curing peak in the curing process of all samples, and the curing reaction is approximately a first-order
reaction, indicating good compatibility between PPO and BNE-200.
Key words: polyphenylene ether; redistribution reaction; low molecular weight; intrinsic viscosity; curing
kinetics
Classification number: TQ326.53 Article number: 1009-797X(2026)02-0010-06
Document code: B DOI:10.13520/j.cnki.rpte.2026.02.002

1 Introduction normal production through pilot technology evaluation. It was
Polyphenylene ether, whose full name is poly(2,6- not until 2006 that BlueStar New Chemical Materials Co., Ltd.
dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) and abbreviated as PPO, can Ruicheng Branch successfully achieved mass production of
also be referred to as polyphenylene oxide. Polyphenylene polyphenylene ether with foreign technical support.
ether is an excellent thermoplastic engineering plastic, Generally, polyphenylene ether has a single-end hydroxyl
possessing good mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. structure, as shown in Figure 1. Low molecular weight bis-end
However, it has a drawback, namely, the relatively high melt hydroxyl polyphenylene ether is synthesized through oxidative
viscosity of its matrix, which necessitates processing at high copolymerization of 2,6-dimethylphenol and tetramethyl
temperatures (300℃). In 1964, General Electric Company (GE) bisphenol A, as shown in Figure 2.
of the United States was the first to use 2,6-dimethylphenol
as a raw material to achieve large-scale industrial production
of polyphenylene ether, with its production scale ranking
first in the world at that time. After being acquired, it was
renamed Sabic (SABIC). The second enterprise to develop Figure 1 Single-ended hydroxy polyphenylene ether
polyphenylene ether plastics was ASAHI of Japan. Domestic
attempts to synthesize 2,6-dimethylphenol and research Biography: Xu Yunxiang (1998-), male, is a graduate student pursuing
on producing polyphenylene ether plastics failed to achieve a master's degree, primarily engaged in research on the synthesis process of
polymer materials.

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