DPD Visualization of Reaction-Induced Phase Separation in a Novel PPE/Thermosetting Resin System

Poly(phenylene ether) (PPE) has attracted attention as an insulating material for high-frequency substrates because of its low dielectric constant and high glass transition temperature. However, it dissolves only in halogen-based solvents, and its thermoplastic nature leads to poor dimensional stability during processing. To overcome these limitations, we synthesized a novel branched poly(phenylene ether) possessing thermosetting moieties (cbPPE) [1]. When blended with a thermosetting resin, triallyl isocyanurate (TAIC), the cbPPE/TAIC system exhibited reaction-induced phase separation (RIPS) during curing. Since the phase-separated morphology strongly governs the physical properties of the material, understanding the structure formation process is crucial. To visualize the RIPS process, a dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method incorporating the curing reaction was employed [2]. The applicability of this approach was examined for the newly developed polymer system. The DPD simulations successfully reproduced the experimentally observed phase-separated morphology and its temporal evolution, demonstrating the validity of the proposed method for analyzing RIPS in thermosetting polymer systems.