• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.412-418
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• 2022

Flame-retardant vinyl ester (VE) resin films were developed from the mixtures of brominated and non-brominated epoxy resins via esterification with methacrylic acid without reactive diluents. The films were used to fabricate carbon fiber (CF) prepregs via a hot melt impregnation process. The viscosity of VE resins suitable for film production was optimized by mixing low-viscosity bisphenol-A and high-viscosity brominated bisphenol-A epoxy precursors. Increasing the bromine content of the cured VE resin further increased the limited oxygen index (LOI) (39%), storage modulus (2.4 GPa) at 25℃ and residual carbonization (16.1%) values compared to non-brominated VE. Manual layup of as-prepared VE prepregs with subsequent curing led to the successful fabrication of CF-reinforced composites with high tensile and flexural strength. The results from the study hold high promise for a styrene-free, environmentally friendly VE composite process in the future.