Anomalous behavior of thermal stability of amino-carbon nanotube-epoxy nanocomposite

Resumo

© 2014 SAGE Publications.Carbon nanotube-epoxy nanocomposite was obtained using amino-carbon nanotube and its thermal stability was compared with neat resin. The results showed that at lower temperatures (below 360°C), nanocomposite is more stable than neat resin. However, at higher temperatures (above 380°C), the contrary was observed: neat resin is more stable. In order to understand this anomalous behavior, a complete kinetic study of the cure process was performed. The precure degree of the nanocomposite was higher than that of the neat resin. However, both samples showed virtually the same final cure degree. The cure heat and activation energy were very similar for both samples. Nevertheless, the difference in thermal stability between nanocomposite and neat resin is not related to the cure process. This behavior must be associated with the good adhesion of amino-carbon nanotube-epoxy and to the presence of the functional groups linked to the carbon nanotube surface, especially oxygen molecules.

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