Provided are a curable resin composition capable of providing excellent heat resistance and toughness for a cured product, in which these physical properties are less deteriorated even in a case of being exposed to humidity and heat conditions, and a cured product, a fiber reinforced composite material, and a molded article thereof. The curable resin composition includes an epoxy resin and a curing agent, in which the epoxy resin is an epoxy resin obtained by the polyglycidyl-etherification of a phenol novolac resin. The phenol novolac resin contains bisphenol F having different binding sites, and in the bisphenol F components, the content of the [o, p′[ conjugate is in a range of 30% to 45% relative to the total of the [o, p′[ conjugate+the [o, o′] conjugate+the [p, p′[ conjugate in terms of the area ratio according to a liquid chromatography measurement.

A slow reacting epoxy resin system is disclosed. The slow reacting epoxy resin system comprises a high purity epoxy resin component selected from the group comprising of a high purity Bisphenol A(BPA), a high purity Bisphenol F (BPF), and a combination thereof, and an amine curing agent. The initial viscosity after mixing the high purity epoxy resin component and the amine curing agent is less than 350 mPa.Math.s at 25° C.

The invention describes a low temperature process for high performance epoxy resins purification via membrane separation technology. Continuous or semi-continuous low temperature processing grants a minimized material aging during product purification as for example glycidyl amine based resins.

A slow reacting epoxy resin system is disclosed. The slow reacting epoxy resin system comprises a high purity epoxy resin component selected from the group comprising of a high purity Bisphenol A(BPA), a high purity Bisphenol F (BPF), and a combination thereof, and an amine curing agent. The initial viscosity after mixing the high purity epoxy resin component and the amine curing agent is less than 350 mPa.Math.s at 25 C.

Produce diglycidyl-capped polyalkylene glycol by (a) providing epihalohydrin, a polyalkylene glycol that contains and ethylene oxide component and a Lewis acid; (b) coupling the epihalohydrin to the polyalkylene glycol using the Lewis acid as a catalyst to produce a coupling product; (c) stripping 1,4-dioxane from the coupling product; and (d) epoxidation of the coupling product by addition of a base to form diglycidyl-capped polyalkylene glycol in an organic phase.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to processes for forming epoxy resin compositions and processes for separating substrates from complex mixtures. In an embodiment, a process for making an epoxy resin composition is provided and includes: reacting a mixture comprising a substrate, an epihalohydrin, and a catalyst to form a first composition comprising a halohydrin reaction product; introducing an alkaline reagent with the first composition to form a second composition comprising an epoxy resin product; introducing a liquid epoxy resin with the second composition to form a resin mixture; and removing unreacted epihalohydrin from the resin mixture to form the epoxy resin composition. In another embodiment, a process for separating a substrate from a substrate source is provided and includes: introducing an epihalohydrin with the substrate source comprising the substrate, the substrate comprising at least one hydroxyl group, and separating the epihalohydrin and the substrate from the substrate source.

Provided are a curable resin composition capable of providing excellent heat resistance and toughness for a cured product, in which these physical properties are less deteriorated even in a case of being exposed to humidity and heat conditions, and a cured product, a fiber reinforced composite material, and a molded article thereof. The curable resin composition includes an epoxy resin and a curing agent, in which the epoxy resin is an epoxy resin obtained by the polyglycidyl-etherification of a phenol novolac resin. The phenol novolac resin contains bisphenol F having different binding sites, and in the bisphenol F components, the content of the [o, p] conjugate is in a range of 30% to 45% relative to the total of the [o, p] conjugate+the [o, o] conjugate+the [p, p] conjugate in terms of the area ratio according to a liquid chromatography measurement.

A continuous process comprising a) separating an epoxy novolac resin comprising oligomers having an average functionality of greater than 2.5 and a hydrolyzable chlorine content of less than 450 ppm with a continuous evaporator apparatus to form i) a first distillate vapor fraction comprising epoxy novolac resin having more than 75 weight percent of 2 functional components and wherein the mass of the first distillate vapor fraction is in the range of from 15 to 40 weight percent of the starting epoxy novolac resin; and ii) a first bottom fraction comprising epoxy novolac resin having less than 5 weight percent of 2 functional components and having a glass transition temperature of at least 15 C higher compared to the starting epoxy novolac resin when cured; b) recovering the first bottom fraction product; and c) condensing the first distillate vapor fraction to form a first condensed distillate vapor fraction; d) separating the first condensed distillate vapor fraction with a second continuous evaporator apparatus to form i) a second distillate vapor fraction wherein the mass of the second distillate vapor fraction is in the range of from 40 to 70 weight percent of the first condensed distillate vapor fraction; and ii) a second bottom fraction; e) recovering the second bottom fraction product; and f) condensing the second distillate vapor fraction to form a second condensed distillate vapor fraction product comprising at least 98 weight percent of 2 functional components with a total chlorine content less than 900 ppm, is disclosed.

A continuous process comprising: a) separating a starting epoxy novolac resin comprising oligomers having an average functionality of greater than 2.5 and a hydrolyzable chlorine content of less than 450 ppm with a first continuous evaporator apparatus under a vaporization temperature in the range of from 150 C. to 250 C. and an absolute pressure of from 0.05 to 1 mmHg absolute to form a first vapor fraction comprising epoxy novolac resin having more than 95 weight percent of 2-functional components and wherein the mass of the first vapor fraction is in the range of from 5 to 20 weight percent of the starting epoxy novolac resin; and a first bottom fraction comprising epoxy novolac resin having a lower weight percent of 2-functional components in comparison with the weight percent of 2-functional components of the starting epoxy novolac resin; b) recovering the first bottom fraction; and c) condensing from 95 weight percent to 99.95 weight percent of the first vapor fraction at a temperature in the range of from 50 C. to 200 C. to form a first partially condensed vapor fraction product having at least 95 weight percent of 2-functional components and having a total chlorine content of less than 900 ppm and an uncondensed vapor product comprising halogenated impurities, is disclosed.

A phenolic epoxy resin and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The method for manufacturing the phenolic epoxy resin includes: reacting cardanol and vanillin for a polycondensation reaction at a temperature ranging from 60 C. to 90 C. so as to form a phenolic resin; injecting the phenolic resin, epichlorohydrin, and a surfactant into a reactor; adding a first basic solution for a dehydration reaction at a temperature ranging from 55 C. to 65 C.; when an equivalent of a hydroxyl group of the phenolic resin is lower than 3% of the original equivalent of the hydroxyl group of the phenolic resin, adding a second basic solution for a ring-closure reaction at a temperature ranging from 60 C. to 70 C., so as to obtain a phenolic epoxy resin. The surfactant is an alcohol ether solvent.