Preparation and non-isothermal cure kinetics study of epoxy resin nanocomposites with amine and epoxy functionalized magnetic nanoparticles

Amine-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles NiFe2O4@SiO2@Amine (AMNP), and epoxy functionalized magnetic nanoparticles, CuFe2O4@SiO2@Epoxy (EMNP) were synthesized in three steps. Homogeneous stable dispersion of AMNP and EMNP, at concentrations of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 wt% in epoxy resin were prepared using stoichiometric amounts of 4,4'-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) as a curing. The optimum ratio of AMNP and EMNP were found to be 5%, and these were investigated by the total enthalpy of the curing reaction using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms at 10 degrees C/min. The cure kinetics of epoxy resin-functional magnetic nanoparticles-DDS composites were studied using non-isothermal DSC thermograms at different heating rates (5, 10, 15, 20 degrees C/min). The kinetic parameters of the curing process, such as activation energy (E-a), pre-exponential factor (A), and rate constant (k) were determined using several non-isothermal kinetic methods: Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Kissinger, Straink, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (OFW), and Bosewell. The kinetic curing values obtained with different kinetic methods are well-matched. The E-a values were calculated in the range of 59.80 to 65.94, 57.69 to 63.92, and 45.38 to 52.45 kJ.mol(-1) for the DGEBA/DDS, DGEBA/DDS/AMNP, and DGEBA/DDS/EMNP systems respectively. Also, The A values, using the Kissinger method, were calculated to be in the range of 7.0 x 10(5), 4.0 x 10(5), and 0.2 x 10(5) S-1 for the DGEBA/DDS, DGEBA/DDS/AMNP, and DGEBA/DDS/EMNP systems respectively. The glass transition temperatures of cured resins were determined with DSC, and the surface morphology of the nanocomposites and also the dispersion of the nanoparticles were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).