Effect of High Shear Mixing Parameters and Degassing Temperature on the Morphology of Epoxy-Clay Nanocomposites

Epoxy-clay nanocomposites were prepared by high shear mixing method using Nanomer I.30E nanoclay as nano-reinforcement in diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA). The effect of mixing speed and time on the nature and degree of clay dispersion were investigated by varying the mixing speed in the range of 500-8000 RPM and mixing time in the range of 15-90 minutes. The effect of degassing temperature on the morphology of the resultant nanocomposites was also studied. Scanning and transmission microscopy (SEM & TEM) along with x-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used to characterize the effect of shear mixing speed, mixing time and degassing temperature on the structure of the resultant nanocomposites. The SEM, TEM and XRD examinations demonstrated that the degree of clay dispersion was improved with increasing the high shear mixing speed and mixing time. The results showed that the optimum high shear mixing speed and mixing time were 6000 rpm and 60 min, respectively. It was observed that the structure of the nanocomposites that have been degassed at 65 degrees C was dominated by ordered intercalated morphology while disordered intercalated with some exfoliated morphology was found for the sample degassed at 100 degrees C for the first 2 hours of the degassing process.