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Epoxy resins reinforced with TiO 2 generated by nonhydrolytic sol–gel process
Author(s) -
Morselli Davide,
Bondioli Federica,
Sangermano Marco,
Roppolo Ignazio,
Messori Massimo
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.40470
Subject(s) - epoxy , cationic polymerization , diglycidyl ether , materials science , monomer , bisphenol a , polymerization , nanocomposite , polymer chemistry , trifluoromethanesulfonate , composite material , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , chemistry , polymer , organic chemistry , catalysis , nanotechnology , engineering
Innovative epoxy‐titania nanocomposites were prepared starting from titania nanoparticles suspended in benzyl alcohol (BzOH) generated by nonhydrolytic sol–gel process from TiCl 4 . The obtained suspensions were mixed with an epoxy resin (bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, DGEBA) and the formulations were cured in the presence of ytterbium(III) trifluoromethanesulfonate as cationic initiator. The thermally activated cationic ring‐opening polymerization produced a three‐dimensional network in which the suspending medium BzOH was covalently linked to the epoxy network according to the “activated monomer” mechanism during the propagation step. The presence of titania nanoparticles resulted in a reinforcing and stiffening effect due to both their hydrodynamic effect and, most important, a significantly higher cross‐linking density of the composite material with respect to the unfilled epoxy resin. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 40470.