Thermochimica Acta, Vol.614, 163-170, 2015
A study on effect of organo modified clay on curing behavior and thermo-physical properties of epoxy methyl ester based epoxy nanocomposite
Non-isothermal curing kinetics was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis to investigate the effect of nanoclay (C30B) on crosslinking reaction of epoxidized methyl soyate bioresin modified epoxy blend curing with triethylenetetramine. The kinetic parameters were determined by using Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose method and autocatalytic model. Addition of bioresin lowered the activation energy of epoxy on account of reduced viscosity allowing better contact of resin with curing agent. On the other hand incorporation of clay within the epoxy blend increased the activation energy (E-a) of curing due to the steric effect of clay and increased viscosity. The overall order of the reaction m + n was found to be increased on addition of bioresin and decreased on incorporation of DOB clay within blend. Dynamic mechanical analysis revealed higher glass transition temperature and crosslink density of the nanocomposite. Thermal stability of epoxy blend is enhanced by addition of clay which restricted the mobility of chain and hindered the decomposition process. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.