Rheological, Mechanical, and Thermal Properties of Silane Grafted Layered Double Hydroxide/Epoxy Composites

Judicious surface design of a nanofiller is pertinent to exploit its reinforcing competency in polymer composites. Herein, sodium dodecyl sulfate intercalated layered double hydroxide (LDH) was functionalized using 3-amino-propyltriethoxysilane (APTES), which was then dispersed in the epoxy matrix. The grafting of APTES on the LDH surface was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. The robustness of the interface reflected the significant improvement of similar to 104 and 90% in flexural strength and modulus at 0.25 wt % loading, while the tensile strength and Youngs modulus were found to increase by similar to 44 and 50.8%, respectively. The tangible improvement in interfacial interaction due to the functionlization was further reflected in the enhanced storage modulus and glass transition temperature, T-g, by similar to 36% and similar to 6 degrees C, respectively, at 0.25 wt % loading. A rheological study confirmed the Newtonian behavior of the composites in the shear rate range of 0.1 100 s(-1).