Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chulalongkorn University, 1999

Nickel- and Zinc-containing epoxy polymers were synthesized by crosslinking of digylcidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) with hexadentate schiff base metal complexes and maleic anhydride. Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide was found to be a suitable catalyst for the crosslinking reaction since it decreased the crosslinking temperature. The results from infrared spectroscopy experiments indicated that the optimum crosslinking conditions were 110 ํC for 8 hours. The polymer properties were studied using dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and tensile testing. The metal-containing polymers showed high thermal stability and good mechanical properties. The nicket-containing polymer obtained from DGEBA : nickel complex : maleic anhydride at the mole ratio of 1:0.15:0.15 showed tensile strength of 48 N/mm2. Upon heating at 250 ํC for 48 hours, the weight loss of the polymer was 7.7%. In comparison to the known epoxy polymer obtained from DGEBA-diethylenetriamine system, the nickel-containing polymer showed much higher thermal stability.