Title: Thermal and flexural properties of room-temperature cured PMMA grafted natural rubber toughened epoxy layered silicate nanocomposite

Authors: Nor Yuliana Yuhana; Sahrim Hj. Ahmad; Mahmood Mebrabzadeh; Abdul Razak Shamsul Bahri

Addresses: Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43000 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' Department of Material Science, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43000 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' Poly M Inc., 2152 Etienne Montgolfier, St. Laurent Montreal, QC, H4R 3H7, Canada ' Agrotechnology and Food Science Faculty, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract: Thermal and flexural properties of ternary system containing epoxy, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) grafted natural rubber, and organic chemically modified montmorillonite clay (Cloisite 30B) were studied. The results of TEM, SEM, XRD, FTIR, DSC, TGA and flexural tests were discussed. The rates of glass transition and decomposition process were introduced as relevant parameters to evaluate glass transition and thermal stability. It was observed that the addition of 5 phr Cloisite 30B in epoxy contributed to significant improvement in thermal properties and flexural modulus of nanocomposites. The intercalated structure of silicate clay may help to introduce tortuous path for volatiles to escape the epoxy network, hence retarding the decomposition process. The high char yield content for epoxy/clay and rubber toughened epoxy/clay nanocomposite show that they can be used as adhesive and coating materials with good thermal stability properties.

Keywords: silicate nanocomposites; natural rubber; thermal stability; flexural properties; nanotechnology; PMMA; toughened epoxy layers; poly(methyl methacrylate); montmorillonite clay; glass transition; adhesives; coatings.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNBM.2014.061810

International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials, 2014 Vol.5 No.1, pp.45 - 58

Published online: 30 Jun 2014 *

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