Abstract: A polyethersulfone composition is disclosed which comprises structural units derived from bisphenol-A and 4,4?-biphenol, the structural units derived from 4,4?-biphenol being present in an amount corresponding to greater than 65 mole percent based on total moles of structural units derived from diphenolic monomers, wherein the polyethersulfone has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of at least 54,000 grams per mole as measured by gel permeation chromatography. The polyethersulfone compositions of the invention display outstanding impact strength as measured using ASTM D256. Surprisingly, the polyethersulfone compositions of the invention show enhanced impact strength relative to known polyethersulfones such as RADEL R, a commercially available polyethersulfone engineering thermoplastic comprised of structural units derived from a dihalodiarylsulfone and 4,4?-biphenol and having a Notched Izod impact strength of about 700 Joules per meter.

Abstract: Epoxy polymer precursors and epoxy polymers resulting therefrom are tolerant to bombardment by high-energy radiation. The epoxy polymer precursors comprise at least an epoxy resin free of aromatic units and at least a curing agent selected from the group consisting of aliphatic polyamines, cycloaliphatic polyamines, polyamides, aliphatic anhydrides, cycloaliphatic anhydrides, and mixtures thereof. In one embodiment of the invention the epoxy resin comprises at least a cycloparaffinic group, and the curing agent comprises a polyamine derived from cyclohexane. Such epoxy polymer compositions are used to form reflectors elements between adjacent scintillator elements in high-energy radiation detector array.