Comparison of the Nanostructure and Mechanical Performance of Highly Exfoliated Epoxy-Clay Nanocomposites Prepared by Three Different Protocols

Materials

Fatemeh Shiravand¹  John M. Hutchinson¹  Yolanda Calventus¹ 

[1] Centre for NanoEngineering, Departament de Màquines i Motors Tèrmics, Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeries Industrial i Aeronàutica (ETSEIAT), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Terrassa 08222, Barcelona, Spain; E-Mails:

关键词: nanocomposite;    exfoliation;    pre-conditioning;    mechanical properties;    homopolymerisation;    epoxy;    layered silicate;    differential scanning calorimetry;    nanostructure;    montmorillonite;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma7064196

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Three different protocols for the preparation of polymer layered silicate nanocomposites based upon a tri-functional epoxy resin, triglycidyl para-amino phenol (TGAP), have been compared in respect of the cure kinetics, the nanostructure and their mechanical properties. The three preparation procedures involve 2 wt% and 5 wt% of organically modified montmorillonite (MMT), and are: isothermal cure at selected temperatures; pre-conditioning of the resin-clay mixture before isothermal cure; incorporation of an initiator of cationic homopolymerisation, a boron tri-fluoride methyl amine complex, BF₃·MEA, within the clay galleries. It was found that features of the cure kinetics and of the nanostructure correlate with the measured impact strength of the cured nanocomposites, which increases as the degree of exfoliation of the MMT is improved. The best protocol for toughening the TGAP/MMT nanocomposites is by the incorporation of 1 wt% BF₃·MEA into the clay galleries of nanocomposites containing 2 wt% MMT.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.