Highly Toughened Nanostructured Self-Assembled Epoxy-Based Material-Correlation Study between Nanostructured Morphology and Fracture Toughness-Impact Characteristics

We present an efficient and effective method for preparing a novel self-assembled nanostructured material with high toughness and impact strength from a blend of di-glycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) and epoxidized poly(styrene-block-butadiene-block-styrene) (eSBS(55)) tri-block copolymer. The field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope results show the nanostructured morphological characteristics of the blends. This study achieved the highest fracture toughness, with a fracture toughness in the form of critical stress intensity factors (K-IC) value of 2.54 MPa m(1/2), in epoxy/block copolymer blends compared to previous works in the field. The impact strength also increased by 116% compared to neat epoxy. This is a major advancement in epoxy toughening due to the use of a single secondary phase. The resulting highly tough and impact-resistant material is a promising candidate for coating applications in industries such as flooring, building, aerospace, and automobiles.

Automated summary

We have developed a method to prepare a novel self-assembled nanostructured material with high toughness and impact strength using a blend of DGEBA and eSBS(55). The blends exhibit nanostructured morphological characteristics, as observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope. Compared to previous studies, our research achieved the highest fracture toughness, with a K-IC value of 2.54 MPa m(1/2) in epoxy/block copolymer blends. The impact strength also increased by 116% compared to neat epoxy, making this material a promising candidate for coating applications in various industries.