Electron beam curing of poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether-functionalized MWNTs/epoxy composites

Abstract

It has been firmly realized that the dispersion of carbon nanotubes and their bonding with the matrix on the interfaces are two crucial problems need to be resolved to achieve the expected properties of nanocomposites. In view of the unsatisfactory interfacial bonding of the carbon nanotubes/epoxy composites, the complicated production procedure, and the high energy consuming of the conventional preparing method, the electron beam curing technology was used in preparing carbon nanotubes/epoxy composites in this study. The electron beam can realize the radiation curing of the nanocomposites; in the meantime, it also can enhance the concentration of unsaturated carbon atoms of the carbon nanotubes surface and strengthen the interphase interaction of carbon nanotubes and the matrix as well. It would improve the carbon nanotubes modification efficiency and composites properties and benefit the environment. In this article, to further improve the properties of the composites, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes were modified with polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether, and then polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes/epoxy composites were prepared by electron beam curing process. The results showed that polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes do good to the improvement of the elongation at break of the corresponding composites. It also showed that the reinforcement effect of polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes reached a maximum at the content of around 0.25 wt%, and at higher contents, the tensile modulus decreased with filler loading.