Dear Colleagues,

Due to their outstanding properties, such as high optical transparency, high electrical resistance, high thermal insulation, good thermomechanical properties, and dimensional stability, epoxy networks represent important thermosetting polymeric materials. In fact, they are widely used in industry as adhesives, paints, and coatings, electrical, and electronic applications, as well as composite matrixes for automotive and aerospace applications. Epoxy networks are issued from epoxy prepolymers composed of two-four oxirane rings leading to a polyaddition polymerization with hardeners (amines, phenols, isocyanates or acids) or a chain homopolymerization reaction in the presence of initiators as tertiary amines, imidazoles or ammonium salts. However, innovation in this area has reached a certain technological limit. Thus, significant R&D resources have been devoted to designing innovative (multi)functional-dedicated polymer networks and ultimately finding solutions for a sustainable future. Over the past few years, a new and innovative technology has emerged producing a new generation of thermosetting polymers with unprecedented improvements in their physical properties. The concept of “function through structural design” using unreactive or reactive ionic liquids (ILs) as functional building blocks is one of the key issues to meet this challenge.

Dr. Sébastien Livi
Prof. Dr. Jean-François Gérard
Prof. Dr. Jannick Duchet-Rumeau
Guest Editors

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• Thermosets
• epoxy networks
• ionic liquids
• polymerized ionic liquids (PILs)
• mechanical properties
• functional properties