Preparation of Highly Exfoliated Epoxy/Clay Nanocomposites by the Method of Ultrasonication Dispersion-Microwave Cure

摘要

A new ultrasonication dispersion - microwave cure (UD-MC) method for preparing highly exfoliated layered epoxy/clay nanocomposites was developed. The process was divided into two consecutive stages. In the first stage, the epoxy and organoclay were mixed by high stirring and ultrasonication in the presence of acetone. In the second stage, the mixture of epoxy and organoclay was cured with microwave of 400W and postcured at 135°C. The microstructure of the nanocomposites was characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that the basal spacing of the organoclay particles in the epoxy/clay mixture was significantly enlarged, up to around 75A after the ultrasonic treatment. The layered clay was highly exfoliated under the microwave energy; and the basal spacing of nanolayers was more than 90A.