Nuhiji Betime, Attard Darren, Thorogood Gordon, Hanley Tracey, Magniez Kevin, Bungur Jenny, Fox Bronwyn
Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (ITRI), Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Geelong 3217, Australia.
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, PMB 1, Menai NSW 2234, Australia.
Materials (Basel). 2013 Aug 20;6(8):3624-3640. doi: 10.3390/ma6083624.
The role of processing conditions and intercalant chemistry in montmorillonite clays on the dispersion, morphology and mechanical properties of two epoxy/clay nanocomposite systems was investigated in this paper. This work highlights the importance of employing complementary techniques (X-ray diffraction, small angle X-ray scattering, optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy) to correlate nanomorphology to macroscale properties. Materials were prepared using an out of autoclave manufacturing process equipped to generate rapid heating rates and mechanical vibration. The results suggested that the quaternary ammonium surfactant on C30B clay reacted with the epoxy during cure, while the primary ammonium surfactant (I.30E) catalysed the polymerisation reaction. These effects led to important differences in nanocomposite clay morphologies. The use of mechanical vibration at 4 Hz prior to matrix gelation was found to facilitate clay dispersion and to reduce the area fraction of I.30E clay agglomerates in addition to increasing flexural strength by over 40%.
本文研究了加工条件和蒙脱石粘土中的插层剂化学对两种环氧/粘土纳米复合体系的分散性、形态和力学性能的作用。这项工作突出了采用互补技术（X射线衍射、小角X射线散射、光学显微镜和透射电子显微镜）将纳米形态与宏观性能相关联的重要性。材料采用釜外制造工艺制备，该工艺能够产生快速加热速率和机械振动。结果表明，C30B粘土上的季铵表面活性剂在固化过程中与环氧树脂发生反应，而伯铵表面活性剂（I.30E）催化聚合反应。这些效应导致纳米复合粘土形态存在重要差异。发现在基体凝胶化之前使用4Hz的机械振动有助于粘土分散，并减少I.30E粘土团聚体的面积分数，同时使弯曲强度提高40%以上。
