Effects of the heating rate and the amount of organic montmorillonite on the thermal properties of the novel liquid crystalline epoxy nanocomposite

A novel nanocomposite was prepared by liquid-crystalline epoxy (LCE)/diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS)/organic montmorillonite (MMT). A novel liquid-crystalline epoxy monomer, diglycidyl ether of 4,4'-bis(4-hydroxylbenzoyloxy)-3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbiphenyl (DGE-BHBTMBP), was chosen as the matrix material. The curing processes and thermal properties of the novel LCETs obtained were investigated by nonisothermal DSC. The peak temperature increased with an increase in the heating rate for the different amount of organic MMT. The exothermal peaks of the samples containing organic MMT shift toward a lower temperature compared with the samples without organic MMT in the same curing condition. The glass transition temperature (T-g) of cured composites increases as the heat rates decrease.