A novel comparative study of different layered silicate clay types on exfoliation process and final nanostructure of trifunctional epoxy nanocomposites

Abstract

© 2016. This version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The effect of three different organically modified layered silicate clays (Nanomer I.30E, Cloisite 30B and Nanofil SE 3000) on the exfoliation process and on the thermal properties and nanostructure of cured trifunctional epoxy resin based nanocomposites was studied. Optical microscopy showed that the best and poorest qualities of clay distribution in the epoxy matrix were obtained with Nanofil SE 3000 and Nanomer I.30E, respectively. However, the isothermal differential scanning calorimetry scans show that, of the three systems, it is only the Nanomer clay that promotes intra-gallery reaction due to homopolymerisation, appearing as an initial rapid peak prior to the cross-linking reaction. This rapid intra-gallery reaction is not present in the curing curve for the Cloisite and Nanofil systems. This fact implies that the fully cured nanostructure of the Cloisite and Nanofil system is poorly exfoliated, which is confirmed by small angle X-ray scattering which shows a scattering peak for these systems at around 2.53°, corresponding to about 3.5 nm d-spacing.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Rheological, EMI and corrosion properties of epoxy coating with nanoparticle and conductive carbon black

“…As the coating is a commercial product with others fillers, the visualization of the intercalated or exfoliated are not precise. The missed characteristic peaks can be related to the effective high shear stress applied during dispersion, expanding the layer space of tactoids [32]. These results can be related to the increase of viscosity on rheological behavior and not only by the exfoliate dispersion.…”

Exploring the optical and dielectric properties of bifunctional and trifunctional epoxy polymers

“…Several studies were devoted to the comparison of optical, thermic, and mechanical properties of epoxy polymers. Some of them reported the use of the same hardener and different epoxy resins, while other ones have used the same epoxy resin and investigated several hardeners [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”

Competitive interactions, structure and properties in polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites

“…Because of its high resolution TEM does not supply information about larger structural entities, like larger stacks and especially particles. XRD is used to supply information on intercalation or exfoliation and the disappearance of the silicate reflection from the XRD pattern is falsely interpreted as a sign of complete exfoliation [19][20][21][22][23]. Usually subtle changes in gallery structure are not analyzed sufficiently thoroughly and reflection intensity indicating the amount of non-exfoliated silicates is not evaluated quantitatively practically at all [24].…”

“…Another crucial question not treated according to its importance is related to the interactions prevailing in the composite. Usually organophilic silicate is used for the preparation of these composites [22,[28][29][30]. Organophilization, i.e.…”