Effect of crosslink density on fracture behavior of model epoxies containing block copolymer nanoparticles

Jia (Daniel) Liu, Hung Jue Sue, Zachary J. Thompson, Frank S. Bates, Marv Dettloff, George Jacob, Nikhil Verghese, Ha Pham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

107 Scopus citations

Abstract

Model diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A based epoxy resins containing well-dispersed 15 nm block copolymer (BCP) nanoparticles were prepared to study the effect of matrix crosslink density on their fracture behavior. The crosslink density of the model epoxies was varied via the controlled epoxy thermoset technology and estimated experimentally. As expected, it was found that the fracture toughness of the BCP-toughened epoxy is strongly influenced by the crosslink density of the epoxy matrix, with higher toughenability for lower crosslink density epoxies. Key operative toughening mechanisms of the above model BCP-toughened epoxies were found to be nanoparticle cavitation-induced matrix shear banding for the low crosslink density epoxies. The toughening effect from BCP nanoparticles was also compared with core-shell rubber-toughened epoxies having different levels of crosslink density. The usefulness of the present findings for designing toughened thermosetting materials with desirable properties is discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4683-4689
Number of pages7
JournalPolymer
Volume50
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 10 2009

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the funding supports from The Dow Chemical Company and the Department of Energy (DOE) through grant 5–35908 and through a subcontract to UT–Battelle (No. 4000041622) for the current research.

Keywords

  • Block copolymer nanoparticle
  • Crosslink density
  • Epoxy toughening

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