Study on thermal and mechanical properties of nano-calcium carbonate/epoxy composites

A study on evaluating the effect of nano-CaCO3 particles on thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy resin cast was performed by TGA and mechanical tests. A silane coupling agent KH550 as an interfacial modifier was introduced into nanocomposites through preparing KH550/nano-CaCO3 master batch. It is revealed that epoxy resin cast filled with nano-CaCO3 particles represents higher thermal stability and mechanical strength. The improvement of thermal and mechanical properties is attributed to the surface modification of nano-particles, which can enhance the interfacial properties between nano-CaCO3 fillers and epoxy resin. The mechanical properties of nano-CaCO3/epoxy/carbon fibres composites based on the modified epoxy matrix are also enhanced. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.