Abstract:

A new type of epoxy resin containing biphenyl  structure/organomontmorillonite nanocomposites was reported, which was based on 3,3′,5,5′tetramethyldiphenoldiglycidyl ether and OMMT. The interlayer spacing  of the OMMT, corresponding to the d(001) plane peak was 2.33 nm. The curing reaction kinetics of the TMBP/MMT system was studied by means of nonisothermal DSC. Based on the Kissinger method, the apparent activation energy (Δ E) was calculated to be 51.25 kJ/mol. The reaction order (n=0.88) was calculated according to Crane theory. The influences of the content of OMMT on the intercalation and exfoliation structures of TMBP/DDM/MMT composites were investigated by wide Xray diffraction (WXRD). The Xray patterns reveal that only at the lower content of OMMT, could the exfoliation nanocomposites be formed. The mechanical and thermal  properties of the composites were measured. The results indicate that the composites have better mechanical properties and higher T_g than the pristine epoxy resin.

Key words: organomontmorillonite (OMMT), 4,4′diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM), epoxy resin containing biphenyl structure (TMBP), curing reaction kinetic, nanocomposite, X-ray diffraction