Curing Kinetics Modeling of Epoxy Modified by Fully Vulcanized Elastomer Nanoparticles Using Rheometry Method

In this study, the curing kinetics of epoxy nanocomposites containing ultra-fine full-vulcanized acrylonitrile butadiene rubber nanoparticles (UFNBRP) at different concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt.% was investigated. In addition, the effect of curing temperatures was studied based on the rheological method under isothermal conditions. The epoxy resin/UFNBRP nanocomposites were characterized via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FTIR analysis exhibited the successful preparation of epoxy resin/UFNBRP, due to the existence of the UFNBRP characteristic peaks in the final product spectrum. The morphological structure of the epoxy resin/UFNBRP nanocomposites was investigated by both field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. The FESEM and TEM studies showed UFNBRP had a spherical structure and was well dispersed in epoxy resin. The chemorheological analysis showed that due to the interactions between UFNBRP and epoxy resin, by increasing UFNBRP concentration at a constant temperature (65, 70 and 75 degrees C), the curing rate decreases at the gel point. Furthermore, both the curing kinetics modeling and chemorheological analysis demonstrated that the incorporation of 0.5% UFNBRP in epoxy resin matrix reduces the activation energy. The curing kinetic of epoxy resin/UFNBRP nanocomposite was best fitted with the Sestak-Berggren autocatalytic model.

Automated summary

This study investigated the curing kinetics of epoxy nanocomposites containing ultra-fine full-vulcanized acrylonitrile butadiene rubber nanoparticles (UFNBRP) at different concentrations. The effect of curing temperatures was studied using rheological analysis. Characterization of the nanocomposites was done using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and morphological studies were conducted using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that the incorporation of UFNBRP reduced the curing rate at the gel point and that the nanocomposites had a homogeneous dispersion of UFNBRP in epoxy resin. Furthermore, the activation energy was reduced when 0.5% UFNBRP was added to the epoxy resin matrix. The curing kinetics of the nanocomposites followed the Sestak-Berggren autocatalytic model.