0000000000121487
AUTHOR
Lorena Solar
Curing of an epoxy resin modified with nanoclay monitored by dielectric spectroscopy and rheological measurements
Dielectric and rheological measurements have been performed in “real-time” to follow curing reaction on blends of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A epoxy resin with 4,4-methylene bis(2,6-diethylaniline) hardener and different amounts of organically modified nanoclay (Nanofil 919) as modifier. The effect of the modifier and its amount on the curing reaction, as well as that of the curing temperature has been studied. Changes in molecular mobility in the reaction mixture have been investigated by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. Evolutions of ionic conductivity and main relaxation have been analyzed and vitrification times have been obtained and compared with those obtained by rheological …
Incorporation of Silica Nanospherical Particles into Epoxy-Amine Crosslinked Materials
Composites of silica nanospheres coated with crosslinked epoxy–amine were synthesised and examined by 29Si-magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The most representative fact is that epoxy-modified nanospheres lost less weight at high temperatures. At temperatures greater than 300°C the loss of weight for epoxy-modified nanospheres was rather lower than for unmodified nanospheres. This helped them to retain their structures, as the loss of weight can have adverse effects on network defects, due to the loss of crosslinks by unit of volume.
Synthesis and Properties of Amine-Cured Epoxy/Organophilic Layered Silicate Nanocomposites
Epoxy-layered silicate composites have been prepared by dispersing an organically modified montmorillonite (Nanofil 919) in an epoxy resin and curing in the presence of an aromatic hardener. Dispersion of the layered silicate within the epoxy matrix was verified using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealing that interaction improves upon organic silicate modification. Flexural properties and toughness increase with the organic silicate loading whereas glass transition temperature decreases and thermal stability remains practically unmodified.
Morphology, flexural, and thermal properties of sepiolite modified epoxy resins with different curing agents
A bisphenol A-based epoxy resin was modified with 5 wt% organically modified sepiolite (Pangel B40) and thermally cured using two different curing agents: an aliphatic diamine (Jeffamine D230, D230) and a cycloaliphatic diamine (3DCM). The morphology of the cured materials was established by scanning and transmission electron microscopy analysis. The thermal stability, thermo-mechanical properties, and flexural behaviour of the sepiolite-modified matrices were evaluated and compared with the corresponding neat matrix. The initial thermal decomposition temperature did not change with the addition of sepiolite. The flexural modulus of the epoxy matrix slightly increases by the incorporation o…
Cure kinetics of a cobalt catalysed dicyanate ester monomer in air and argon atmospheres from DSC data
A kinetic analysis of the cyclotrimerisation reaction of a dicyanate ester monomer catalysed by cobalt(II) acetylacetonate and nonylphenol in air and argon atmospheres has been carried out by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Dynamic and isothermal DSC scans as well as the glass transition temperature are the experimental data obtained. From isothermal scans a higher cyanate conversion in air than in argon was obtained. The cyanate conversions are satisfactorily described with a second-order kinetic equation in the kinetically controlled region, and by m-order (m<1) equation after vitrification is reached. Activation energies determined by different procedures agree among them, showi…
Preferential solvation of poly(methyl methacrylate) and a bisphenol A diglycidyl ether by size-exclusion chromatography
The preferential adsorption coefficient, lambda, of poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, in solutions formed by an epoxy resin in tetrahydrofuran (THF), was studied by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Only PMMA of lowest molar mass was preferentially solvated by epoxy but at low concentrations of epoxy in the mixture. At higher epoxy content PMMA was preferentially solvated by THF. A simultaneous and competitive solvation between the specific interactions PMMA-epoxy and the self association of epoxy at high concentrations would be the responsible of this inversion point. The more compacted coil of PMMA of higher molecular weights in solution could explain the lack of interaction of these po…
Viscoelastic behavior of epoxy prepolymer/organophilic montmorillonite dispersions
Dispersions of a bisphenol A-based epoxy resin with an organophilic montmorillonite (Nanofil 919) were studied by X-ray diffraction and oscillatory shear rheometry. X-ray studies reveal that the clay is intercalated by the epoxy and forms stable dispersions. The viscoelastic behavior of the nanodispersions was measured as a function of the Nanofil concentration and temperature. An increase in both G′ and G″ moduli was detected as the concentration increases. Furthermore, a transition from a liquid-like behavior, at low temperatures, to a solid-like behavior, at higher temperatures, was observed for all the samples. This transition is accounted for the formation of a percolated structure of …
Properties and structure of cyanate ester/polysulfone/organoclay nanocomposites
In this paper, a cyanate ester (CE) matrix has been modified with polysulfone and an organic montmorillonite (Nanofil 919). The blend was thermally cured in presence of copper acetylcetonate and nonylphenol. The morphology of the cured materials was investigated by wide angle X-ray, scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques. An intercalate structure of silicate platelets in the cyanate matrix has been obtained. Furthermore, results of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) suggest that CE/PSF/Nanofil 919 nanocomposites have higher thermal stability than the neat resin, increasing the onset decomposition temperature. Flexural strength distributions of modified and neat cyanate matri…