Premium
Processing and thermal properties evaluation of silylated apophyllite–filled epoxy nanocomposite
Author(s) -
Chen Chenggang,
Langat J.,
Raghavan D.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/pat.2047
Subject(s) - epoxy , materials science , nanocomposite , thermal decomposition , composite material , rheology , organic chemistry , chemistry
The primary objective of the research was to evaluate the rheology and thermal properties of silylated apophyllite–filled epoxy nanocomposite. Several n ‐octyldimethylsiloxy‐apophyllite with different grafting degrees were synthesized by controlling the ratio of the apophyllite and n ‐octyldimethylchlorosilane. The thermal studies of silylated apophyllite have shown that the onset decomposition temperature of silylated apophyllite far exceeds the onset temperature of conventional organoclays (~260 °C). Chemorheological measurements of 1.8 wt% silylated apophyllite–filled tetra functional epoxy (MY720) and difunctional epoxy (DER661) resin mixture showed that the addition of the silylated apophyllite does not dramatically affect the cure profile of the epoxy resin with the availability of 40 min of processing window after the addition of apophyllite. Wide angle X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results of the shear mixed and cured nanocomposite suggest that the apophyllite was well dispersed in the epoxy matrix. The thermal studies of epoxy nanocomposite showed an increase in the char yield on the addition of silylated apophyllite to the epoxy resin. In addition, an improvement in the onset decomposition temperature of the cyanopropyldimethylsiloxy‐apophyllite epoxy nanocomposite was observed compared with that of pure epoxy resin. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.