Flexural properties of TETA-cured epoxy resin modified with nanoclay

In the present work, the effect of organically modified clay, Cloisite 30B, on the structural and flexural properties of TETA-cured epoxy resin is studied. A 3-point bending test was carried out to estimate the flexural properties of the samples with different clay content. Furthermore, the quality of dispersion and intercalation/exfoliation of clay in the epoxy nanocomposites were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. XRD results indicated that the clay has been better intercalated by the epoxy matrix as compared to the pure Cloisite 30B. The results also showed that an addition of clay up to 1.5 wt. % can lead to a maximum value in flexural strength about 31.5 % in comparison to neat epoxy. However, the flexural modulus of the nanocomposites increases continuously about 15.5 % with adding clay up to 5 wt. %.

Keywords:

Flexural properties , epoxy , clay , TETA , XRD , 3-point bending test