Alcohol degradation of anhydride-cured epoxy resin insulations and the properties of recycled materials

Epoxy resins are widely used as electrical insulation materials due to their excellent properties. However, the three-dimensional network structure of epoxy resin makes it difficult to be degraded and recycled, and incineration or landfill will cause environmental pollution as well as waste of resources. In order to study the degradation technology of epoxy insulating materials (EIM) under mild conditions, the degradation of EIM was achieved under mild conditions using K 3 PO 4 as a catalyst in ethylene glycol at 120 °C for 3 h Degradation products of epoxy resin insulation materials (DEM) were used to partially replace bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) in the preparation of recycled epoxy resin insulation materials (RIM). The results showed that RIM could maintain good insulating properties when the DEM content was lower than 38.4 wt.%, the tensile strength and T g were also held up will when the DEM content was 22wt.%. This study provides new ideas and methods for the recycling of epoxy resin insulating materials, which can help the resourceful reuse of epoxy cast electrical equipment after decommissioning.