Study of Water Absorption Properties of Annealed Nanodiamond/Epoxy Nanocomposites

Abstract

Water absorption behavior of annealed Nanodiamond (ND) particle filled epoxy composite, has been studied. Removal of impurity present in the pristine ND and its surface modifications, were carried out by heat treatment. Different weight percent of ND (0.1, 0.3 and .05 wt. %) were incorporated in a commercial grade epoxy resin (L-12) in a controlled manner. A good and homogeneous distribution of ND in the composite, was observed. This resulted in reduction of mobility of the epoxy chain due to formation of highly immobile mono-layers around ND as well as formation of hydrogen bond between the ND and the epoxy. The water absorption and the contact angle properties of the resulting composites are measured. The results indicate that the water absorption as well as contact angle of the composite decrease with the increase of incorporated ND. It is observed that incorporation of ND into epoxy matrix, enhances the water resistance property of the composite.