In situ preparation of thermoset/clay nanocomposites via thiol-epoxy click chemistry

Abstract

A series of thermoset/clay nanocomposites are prepared by thiol-epoxy click reaction using commercially available starting compounds at ambient conditions in very good yields. The incorporation and exfoliation of clay nanolayers in the thermoset matrix are confirmed by FT-IR, XRD and TEM analyses. The influence of clay loadings on the thermal and mechanical analyses is investigated and all nanocomposites exhibit improved properties than that of the pristine thermoset. The nanocomposite containing 1% montmorillonite by weight has the most improved mechanical properties due to its highly exfoliated structure resulting in efficient interactions between clay and polymer matrix. A further increase of the clay loading results in the aggregation of clay plates to form intercalated structures leading to deteriorated thermal and mechanical properties of nanocomposites.

Synthesis and Characterization of Homogeneous Epoxy Networks: Development of a Sustainable Material Platform Using Epoxy-Alcohol Polyaddition

“…The conversion of the polymerization was determined by FT-IR spectroscopy by analysis of the change of the integral of the epoxy ring vibration signal (915 cm −1 ) in reference to the integral of the aromatic ring vibration (800 cm −1 ) for the monomers DGEVA and PHTE. 32 For the cycloaliphatic monomer ISE, the −C−H bending vibration (1460 cm −1 ) 26 and for the aliphatic monomer TMPTG the −C−H stretching vibration (2900 cm −1 ) 33 were used as references. Formulations were measured directly after preparation and after the polymerization on a PerkinElmer Spectrum 65 FT-IR spectrometer using a Specac MKII golden gate single reflection ATR system.…”

In situ preparation of hetero-polymers/clay nanocomposites by CUAAC click chemistry

“…In recent years, a conceptually different approach has been developed by introducing polymer chains into the clay layers via click chemistry reactions as they bring a number of advantages, including high efficiency under mild conditions, and simple preparation set-up and purification steps [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. In this way, clickable groups such as azide-alkyne [14-20], thiol-ene [23,24], thiol-epoxy [25,26], and maleimide-diene [27] partners can be integrated in either the clay surface or polymer chain-ends. The following click reaction such as copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC), gives highly exfoliated polymer/clay nanocomposites, as it can be carried out with high efficiency under ambient conditions [28,29].…”