Electron Beam Curing of Epoxide Modified MWNTs/Epoxy Composites

Abstract

Electron beam (EB) has been used in curing of polymers in view of its advantages over conventional curing processes including short curing time, lower thermal stress, reduction of hazardous chemical volatiles, higher production flexibility. Carbon nanotubes have been recognized as promising filler that can be used to change the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the polymer matrix composites. In this paper, EB curing of epoxide modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)/epoxy composite has been investigated, and a bisphenol-A epoxy resin was used as matrix. MWNTs were chemical functionalized with epoxide monomer and the epoxide functionalized MWNTs were characterized by TG and FTIR. The gel content and Vicker’s hardness of the EB cured pure epoxy resin and the epoxide functionalized MWNTs/epoxy composites were measured and discussed as function of the concentration of the functionalized MWNTs. With the addition of epoxide modified MWNTs, both the gel content and Vicker’s hardness of the composites showed enhancement compared with EB cured pure epoxy.