Specific heat, thermal conductivity, and magnetic susceptibility of cyanate ester resins --- An alternative to commonly used epoxy resins

TL;DR

This study measures the low-temperature thermal and magnetic properties of cyanate ester resins, revealing their potential as superior cryogenic insulators compared to traditional epoxy resins.

Contribution

It provides comprehensive thermal and magnetic data for cyanate ester resins across a wide temperature range, highlighting their suitability for low-temperature applications.

Findings

Cyanate ester resins have higher specific heat than epoxy resins.

Thermal conductivity of CEs is significantly lower, indicating better insulation.

Magnetic susceptibility of CEs is comparable to high-purity standards.

Abstract

In low temperature experiments, resins have many applications as glues or thermal and electrical insulators. Cyanate ester resins (CEs) are a high-temperature compatible thermoset resin whose glass-transition temperature $T_g$ is ~300 $^\circ$C. Recently, we found that CEs also withstand low temperatures without microcracking by measuring $^4$He permeability. Here, we measured specific heat C, thermal conductivity \kappa, and magnetic susceptibility $\chi$ of different kinds of CEs in the wide temperature range from room temperature to 0.5 K for C and 2 K for other two. The thermal properties, C and \kappa, of different kinds of CEs are surprisingly coincident with each other. We discuss chemical structures and crystallinity of CEs and their blends based on the measured thermal properties. Compared to Stycast 1266, a commonly-used epoxy resin in low temperature experiments, C of CEs is larger by a factor of 3 (<= 30 K), \kappa is lower by a factor of 4 (<= 10 K), indicating the small thermal diffusivity. The \chi values are as small as Stycast 1266, indicative of their high purity. Our results show that cyanate esters are a new option for cryogenic resins with thermal insulative properties in/for low temperature experiments.