Enhancement of the Properties of Hybridizing Epoxy and Nanoclay for Mechanical, Industrial, and Biomedical Applications

Abstract

The strong demand for plastic and polymeric materials continues to grow year after year, making these industries critical to address sustainability. By functioning as a filler in either a synthetic or natural starch matrix, nanoclay enables significant reductions in the impact of nonbiodegradable materials. The effect of treated nanoclay (NC) loading on the mechanical and morphological properties (EP) of epoxy is investigated in this research. The NC-EP nanocomposites were prepared via casting. The investigation begins with adding NC at concentrations of 1, 2, and 3 weight percent, followed by the effect of acid treatment on the same nanocomposites. The evaluation is focused on four mechanical tensile strength parameters: Young’s modulus, maximum load, and % elongation. The addition of NC improved the mechanical properties of the four components by 27.2%, 33.38%, 46.98%, and 43.58%, respectively. The acid treatment improved 35.9%, 42.8%, 51.1%, and 83.5%, respectively. These improvements were attributed to NC’s ability to alter the structural morphology as assessed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), a tool for analysing the microstructure. FESEM images were used to visualise the interaction between the NC and EP nanocomposites. The dynamic mechanical properties of the hybrid nanocomposites were investigated using storage modulus, loss modulus, and tan(delta). The results have shown that the viscoelastic properties improved as the fraction of NC increased. The overall findings suggest that these nanocomposites could be used in various industrial and biomedical applications.

Carbon Fiber/PLA Recycled Composite

“…Several suggestions have arisen in response to studies by researchers including curbing the use of plastics, applying bio-degradable plastic materials, shifting towards non-plastic materials, etc., according to the needs of the society [ 2 ]. Proposals for a sudden shift to remove plastics from the world, however, is criticized by many sectors, including products and services, because a drastic shift may cause economic instability in the world due to the linkage of a wide variety of economic and social strings with the plastic industry [ 3 ].…”

Curing and Molecular Dynamics Simulation of MXene/Phenolic Epoxy Composites with Different Amine Curing Agent Systems

“…The rate of the curing reaction can also be described as a function both with temperature (T) and conversion rate (α), as given in Equation (3).…”

“…Epoxy resins are widely used in aerospace [1], coatings [2], biomedical [3] and other fields because of their outstanding mechanical properties, chemical resistance and adhesive properties. As a thermosetting prepolymer, epoxy resin itself needs a crosslinking reaction with a curing agent to exert its properties.…”

Special Issue: Synthesis, Processing, Structure and Properties of Polymer Materials

“…In this Special Issue, 33 original articles have been published on various topics, including the preparation, characterization, and some examples of application of polymeric materials. This issue includes review articles [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ] and research articles [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”