Enthalpy Relaxation of an Epoxy Matrix/Carbon Nanotubes

The enthalpy recovery of an Epoxy/Carbon Nanotube systems (E/CNT) manufactured at low nanotube content, have been investigated by using Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Two different nanotube concentration were considered, 0.5 and 0.1 w/w and results compared with the behaviour of the neat epoxy material. Final results reveal that the aging phenomenon is not monotone with the nanofiller content but a significant depression of the physical aging seems be highlighted by the lowest nanotube content, i.e. 0.5 w/w. This observation has not been rationalised yet, although it seems reasonable to correlate this later effect with the topological feature of nanotube network within the hosting epoxy. Future work will verify this hypothesis