Rheology and curing characteristics of epoxy-clay nanocomposites

Diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resin, filled separately with organoclay (OC) and unmodified clay (UC), were synthesized at room temperature and at high temperature (80 degrees C) by mechanical shear mixing. The room temperature curing (RTC) and high temperature curing (HTC) were carried out with the addition of triethylene tetramine (TETA) and diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) curing agents respectively. The OC used was alkyl ammonium modified montmorillonite (MMT) and the UC was Na+-MMT. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the structure and morphology of the nanocomposites. The influence of OC and UC particles on rheology and curing characteristics was studied. The rate of increase in viscosity was higher for OC-filled resin than that of the UC-filled resin. The curing study showed that the amine ions of the OC aided the polymerization process and favoured the curing at low temperature over the curing of unfilled epoxy resin. The tensile properties were enhanced for epoxy filled with OC particles rather than those filled with UC particles. (c) 2005 Society of Chemical Industry.