Effect of functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes on the curing kinetics and reaction mechanism of bismaleimide-triazine

Functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) with varying functionalization degrees were prepared by chemical methods. The effect of f-MWCNTs on the cure kinetics of bismaleimide-triazine (BT) resin was studied through nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) methods. The reaction activation energy (E (alpha) ) was determined by Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method. The results show that f-MWCNTs have more acceleration ability than pristine MWCNTs, due to more groups on the surface of f-MWCNTs than that of pristine MWCNTs. The activation energy was decreased from a value of 91.3 kJ mol(-1) for the neat BT resin to 74.2 kJ mol(-1) at the small mass loading (1.0 %) of f7-MWCNTs. The effect of f-MWCNTs on the reaction mechanism has been investigated. It shows that the f-MWCNTs accelerate the cure reaction of BT resin by providing the Lewis acids (H+) to make the Diels-Alder reaction and ENE reaction of BT resins more efficient. These findings offer useful insights into the cure technology of thermosetting resin filled with f-MWCNTs, without negative effect on the cure reaction.