Study on cure reaction of the blends of bismaleimide and dicyanate ester

In this work, the cure reaction of the blends of bisphenol A dicyanate ester (BADCy) and 4,4′-bismaleimidodiphenylmethane (BMI) was investigated by using DSC, in situ FTIR, DMA and generalized 2D correlation analysis. The results clarified that there existed different kinds of cure mechanism in the blends of bismaleimide and dicyanate ester. In non-catalyzed blends, the dicyanate ester and bismaleimide cured independently and formed two kinds of network: polycyanurate and polybismaleimide. A cyanate curing catalyst accelerated the cure of dicyanate ester but did not change the independent cure mechanism of two components. Moreover a commercial ring closure catalyst, which was usually used in the synthesis of bismaleimide, resulted in the co-reaction between two components and formed a homogeneous network. Thus, the cure mechanism of the blends of dicyanate ester and bismaleimide was related to the catalyst presented in the blends systems.