Effect of Carboxyl Functionalized MWCNTs on the Cure Behavior of Epoxy Resin

Nusrat Jahan, Alfred-Tcherbi Narteh, Mahesh Hosur, Muhammad Rahman, Shaik Jeelani

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Materials Science and Engineering, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, USA..

DOI: 10.4236/ojcm.2013.32A006                

Abstract

Effects of carboxyl functionalized MWCNTs on the cure behavior of epoxy resin (EPIKOTE^TM resin 862 and EPICURE^TM curing agent W) were investigated by using differential scanning calorimeter in dynamic scan mode. Results indicated that nanotubes could initiate cure reaction at lower temperature while only 0.1 wt% samples were able to suppress the peak temperature (T_p) consistently regardless of different heating rate due to their higher reaction rate, other two batches (0.2 wt% and 0.3 wt% CNT) showed hardly any change in T_p compared to neat samples. Furthermore, addition of small amount (0.1 wt%) of CNTs significantly reduced the activation energy of the system but further addition elevated that due to their retarding effect. Also, a correlation was established between the dispersion state of CNTs in epoxy and total heat of reaction (ΔH) where lower ΔH was considered as an indication of better interfacial interaction of CNTs with matrix and hence, better dispersion. The difference in curing behavior of three different CNT percentages was discussed in terms of their steric hindrance and state of dispersion in the matrix.

Keywords

Carbon Nanotubes; DSC; Steric Hindrance; Peak Temperature; Activation Energy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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