Curable resin composition, article, and method for fabricating the same

1. A curable resin composition, essentially consisting of:

an epoxy resin;

an anhydride;

a catalyst, wherein the catalyst is an imidazole and an organic metal compound, and wherein the organic metal compound is an organic tin compound, organic zinc compound, organic nickel compound, organic cobalt compound, organic copper compound, organic chromium compound, or a combination thereof, wherein the weight ratio between the organic metal compound and the imidazole is in a range from 3.3:1 to 11:1; and

an optional additive selected from the group consisting of a pigment, filler, thickener, defoaming agent, mold release agent, stabilizer, fire retardant agent, surfactant, and a combination thereof.

2. The curable resin composition as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio between the anhydride and the epoxy resin is from 0.1 to 0.8.

3. The curable resin composition as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio between the catalyst and the anhydride is from 0.02 to 0.3.

4. The curable resin composition as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio between the catalyst and the epoxy resin is from 0.005 to 0.06.

5. The curable resin composition as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the epoxy resin is selected from the group consisting of a bisphenol A epoxy resin, aliphatic epoxy resin, naphthalene epoxy resin, biphenyl epoxy resin, phenolic novolac epoxy resin, cresol novolac epoxy resin, fluorine-containing epoxy resin, aralkyl epoxy resin, and a combination thereof.

6. The curable resin composition as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the anhydride is selected from the group consisting of pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), maleic anhydride (MA), methyltetrahydrophthalic anhydride (MTHPA), methylnadic anhydride (MNA), hexanhydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA), methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA), and a combination thereof.

7. The curable resin composition as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the imidazole is selected from the group consisting of 2-undecylimidazole, 2-heptadecylimidazole, 2-methylimidazole, 2-ethyl-4-methylimidazole, 2-phenylimidazole, 2-phenyl-4-methylimidazole, 1-benzyl-2-methylimidazole, 1-benzyl-2-phenylimidazole, 1,2-dimethylimidazole, 1-cyanoethyl-2-methylimidazole, 1-cyanoethyl-2-ethyl-4-methylimidazole, 1-cyanoethyl-2-undecylimidazole, 1-cyanoethyl-2-phenylimidazole, 1-cyanoethyl-2-undecyl imidazolium trimeritate, 1-cyanoethyl-2-phenyl imidazolium trimeritate, 2-phenyl-4,5-dihydroxymethylimidazole, 2-phenyl-4-methyl-5-dihydroxymethylimidazole, and a combination thereof.

8. The curable resin composition as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the organic metal compound is selected from the group consisting of tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate, tin isopropoxide, tin oxalate, zinc 2,4-pentane dionate, zinc acetate, zinc oxalate, dibutyltin diacetate, dibutyltin dilaurate, dioctyltin diacetate, zinc naphthenate, zinc carboxylate, nickel carboxylate, and a combination thereof.

9. An article, which is a reaction product of the composition as claimed in claim 1 .

10. The article as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the article has a thermal decomposition temperature more than 260° C.

11. A method for fabricating an article, comprising:

subjecting the curable resin composition as claimed in claim 1 to a thermal treatment to obtain the article.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 , before subjecting the curable resin composition to the thermal treatment, further comprising:

forming a coating or a film of the curable resin composition.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11 , before subjecting the curable resin composition to the thermal treatment, further comprising:

delivering the curable resin composition into a mold.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the thermal treatment has a process temperature larger than 50° C.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the thermal treatment has a process temperature between 50° C. and 100° C.

16. The article as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio between the catalyst and the epoxy resin is in a range from 0.01 to 0.012, and the weight ratio between the organic metal compound and the imidazole is in a range from 9:1 to 11:1.