Evaluation of augmented thermal, thermo-mechanical, mechanical properties of nano alumina reinforced TGDDM epoxy nanocomposites

Abstract

N,N′-Tetraglycidyldiaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM) was reinforced with various weight fractions (0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt%) of amine functionalized nano alumina (F-Al) were cured with diaminodiphenyl-methane (DDM). FT-IR analysis revealed that formation of functionalized nano alumina (F-Al) structure, was brought about via coupling agent APTES. Furthermore, the morphology of TGDDM epoxy nanocomposites was studied using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), microscopic analysis and an atomic force microscope (AFM). We found a bonding relationship between TGDDM epoxy and F-Al in TGDDM/F-Al nanocomposites It was interesting to note that the values of tensile, flexural and impact strength of 1 wt% F-Al reinforced TGDDM epoxy nanocomposites were found to be 141.5, 192.5 MPa, and 92.4 J/m2, respectively., which resulted in a substantial improvement in the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) to 4.3 and 5.5 for 0.5 and 1 wt% F-Al reinforced TGDDM epoxy nanocomposites and the glass transition temperature (Tg) increased from 210°C to 225°C as the F-Al content increased. The initial degradation temperature (IDT) of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt% F-Al reinforced TGDDM epoxy nanocomposites were significantly enriched to 328°C, 345°C, and 335°C respectively from 290°C of neat (TGDDM) epoxy matrix. Likewise, the char yield for the neat (TGDDM) epoxy matrix was 13% and that for 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt% F-Al reinforced TGDDM epoxy nanocomposites were 17%, 25%, and 20% respectively. It is feasible to state unequivocally that considerable F-Al diffusion within the TGDDM epoxy can only occur at low weight percentages. The results clearly showed that F-Al reinforced TGDDM epoxy nanocomposites may be investigated for advanced high performance industrial engineering applications.