Thermosetting compositions comprising silicone polyethers, their manufacture, and uses

1. A thermosetting composition comprising (a) at least a first thermosetting resin comprising an epoxy resin, (b) at least one silicone polyether, wherein the silicone polyether comprises the following structure:

wherein x, p, k, m, and n are independent integers; x is greater than or equal to 1; p is greater than or equal to 1; k, n, and m are greater than or equal to 0 and the sum of k+n+m is greater than or equal to 1; R 1 is an independent end group chosen from H, (CH 2 ) r CH 3 where r is an integer greater than or equal to 0, and (meth)acrylate, wherein the (meth)acrylate is C(O)CH═CH 2 or C(O)C(CH 3 )═CH 2 ; and EO is ethylene oxide, PO is propylene oxide, and BO is butylene oxide; (c) at least one hardener for the at least one thermosetting resin; and (d) optionally a filler.

2. The thermosetting composition according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one catalyst.

3. The thermosetting composition according to claim 1 , wherein R 1 is an independent end group chosen from H, and CH 3 .

4. The thermosetting composition according to claim 1 , wherein x and p are independently chosen such that the weight average molecular weight of the at least one silicone polyether is from about 400 to about 100,000 at 25° C.; wherein x and p, are independently chosen such that the percentage by weight of silicone backbone in the at least one silicone polyether is from about 5% to about 95%; or wherein x and p are independently chosen such that the weight average molecular weight of the silicone backbone in the at least one silicone polyether is from about 200 to about 30,000 at 25° C.

5. The thermosetting composition according to claim 1 , wherein the viscosity of the at least one silicone polyether, when measured at 25° C., is from about 1 cSt to about 50,000 cSt.

6. The thermosetting composition according to claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the at least one silicone polyether is from about 0.02 to about 30 wt % of the composition.

7. The thermosetting composition according to claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the at least one silicone polyether is from about 0.05 to about 30 wt % of the composition, excluding the weight of any filler.

8. The thermosetting composition according to claim 1 , wherein the filler is an inorganic filler.

9. The thermosetting composition according to claim 8 , wherein the concentration of the inorganic filler is from about 1 to about 95 wt % based on the total weight of the composition.

10. The thermosetting composition according to claim 8 , wherein the average particle size of the inorganic filler is greater than about 2 nm and less than about 1 mm.

11. A thermoset product comprising a cured product of a thermosetting composition comprising: (a) at least one thermosetting resin comprising an epoxy resin; (b) at least one silicone polyether, wherein the silicone polyether comprises the following structure:

wherein x, p, k, m, and n are independent integers; x is greater than or equal to 1; p is greater than or equal to 1; k, n, and m are greater than or equal to 0 and the sum of k+n+m is greater than or equal to 1; R 1 is an independent end group chosen from H, (CH 2 ) r CH 3 where r is an integer greater than or equal to 0, and (meth)acrylate, wherein the (meth)acrylate is C(O)CH═CH 2 or C(O)C(CH 3 )═CH 2 ; and EO is ethylene oxide, PO is propylene oxide, and BO is butylene oxide; (c) at least one hardener for the at least one thermosetting resin; and (d) optionally a filler.

12. The thermoset product according to claim 11 , wherein the product exhibits a toughness, K Ic , as measured according to ASTM D5045 method, of greater than about 0.7 MPa·m 0.5 .

13. The thermoset product according to claim 11 , wherein the product exhibits a water uptake of less than about 0.13, wherein water uptake is measured by cutting a 50×10×3 mm specimen of the thermoset product, weighing the specimen to obtain a weight W1, placing the specimen in a distilled water bath for 24 hours, removing the specimen from the water bath, drying the surface of specimen within 5 minutes with a paper towel to remove surface water, weighing the specimen again to obtain a weight W2, and calculating the water uptake using the following formula: water uptake=(W2−W1)/W1.

14. The thermoset product according to claim 11 , wherein the thermosetting composition further comprises at least one fibrous reinforcement.

15. A method of making a thermoset product comprising:

combining (a) at least a first thermosetting resin comprising an epoxy resin; (b) at least one silicone polyether, wherein the silicone polyether comprises the following structure:

wherein x, p, k, m, and n are independent integers; x is greater than or equal to 1; p is greater than or equal to 1; k, n, and m are greater than or equal to 0 and the sum of k+n+m is greater than or equal to 1; R 1 is an independent end group chosen from H, (CH 2 ) r CH 3 where r is an integer greater than or equal to 0, and (meth)acrylate, wherein the (meth)acrylate is C(O)CH═CH 2 or C(O)C(CH 3 )═CH 2 ; and EO is ethylene oxide, PO is propylene oxide, and BO is butylene oxide; (c) at least one hardener for the at least one thermosetting resin; and (d) optionally a filler to provide a thermosetting composition;

and curing the thermosetting composition to form the thermoset product.