Estimation of Cure and Thermal Degradation Kinetics of Epoxy/Organoclay Nanocomposite

Polymer nanocomposite was synthesized through the intercalation and exfoliation of organoclay in an epoxy matrix. The epoxy matrix was composed of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA, epoxy base resin), 4,4'-methylene dianiline (MDA, curing agent) and malononitrile (MN, chain extender) and organoclay was prepared by treating the montmorillonite with octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (ODTMA). The intercalation of the organoclay was estimated by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analyses. In order to measure the cure rate of DGEBA/MDA (30 phr)/MN (5 phr)/Organoclay (5 phr), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis were performed at the heating rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 oC/min, and the data was interpreted by Kissinger equation. Thermal degradation kinetics of the epoxy nanocomposite was also studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The epoxy sample was decomposed in the TGA furnace at the heating rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 oC/min with nitrogen atmosphere of 50 ml/min. The TGA data was introduced to the Ozawa equation and the degradation activation energy was calculated according to the degradation ratio. The activation energy for cure kinetics was 43.3 kJ/mol and that for thermal degradation was 171.5 kJ/mol.