Abstract
Although epoxy resins have been widely used for engineering applications, because of their good mechanical properties, they are usually brittle and vulnerable to cracking.
This problem becomes more severe when thermosetting epoxy resins are employed in extremely low temperature environments. Hence improvement in fracture toughness is desired. Therefore, fillers such as clay, carbon nanotube, etc. have been used to enhance mechanical properties. Though these reinforcements showed promising results at room temperature, at cryogenic temperature they deteriorate the mechanical properties of epoxy resins. This is due to free space, free volume and thermal contraction effect. This study reports on the mechanical characterization of POSS–epoxy nanocomposites at cryogenic temperature (77 K). POSS (Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxne) is a hybrid organic–inorganic nanoadditive that directly interact with epoxy resin. These nanocomposites were prepared using DGEBF (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F) based epoxy resin and three different functionalities of POSS, namely, glycidyl, trisilanol phenyl, and methacryl. POSS was added at various weight fractions of 0.5%, 1%, 3%, 5% and 8% and an amine-based hardener was used to cure epoxy resin. The test results show that the addition of POSS leads to significant improvement in fracture toughness at 77 K. There is no change in flexural modulus observed. Differential scanning calorimetry is used to measure the glass transition temperature.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Ellis B (1993) Chemistry and technology of epoxy resin. Blackie academic professional, New York
Dusek K (ed.) (1986) Epoxy resins and composites II. Advances in polymer science, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg. 75: xiii+180, Price DM 118.00. ISBN 3-540-15825-1
Ueki T, Nishijima S, Izumi Y (2005) Designing of epoxy resin systems for cryogenic use. Cryogenics 45:141–148
Sawa F, Nishijima S, Okada T (1995) Molecular design of an epoxy for cryogenic temperature. Cryogenics 35:767–769
Yang JP, Chen Z-K, Yang G, Fu S-Y, Ye L (2008) Simultaneous improvements in the cryogenic tensile strength, ductility and impact strength of epoxy resins by a hyperbranched polymer. Polymer 49:3168–3175
Yang G, Fu SY, Yang JP (2007) Cryogenic mechanical behaviors of epoxy resins modified by flexible diamines. Polymer 48:302–310
Huang CJ, Fu SY, Zhang YH, Lauke B, Li LF, Ye L (2005) Cryogenic properties of SiO2/epoxy nanocomposites. Cryogenics 45:450–454
Yang J-P, Yang G, Xu G, Fu S-Y (2007) Cryogenic mechanical behaviors of MMT/epoxy nanocomposites. Compos Sci Technol 67:2934–2940
Kim BC, Park SW, Lee DG (2008) Fracture toughness of the nano-particle reinforced epoxy composite. Compos Struct 86:69–77
Ni CH, Ni GF, Zhang SW, Liu XY, Chen MQ, Liu LH (2010) The preparation of inorganic/organic hybrid nanomaterials containing silsesquioxane and its reinforcement for an epoxy resin network. Colloid Polym Sci 288(4):469–477
Matejka L, Dukh O, Meissner B, Hlavata D, Brus J, Strachota A (2003) Block copolymer organic–inorganic networks. Formation and structure ordering. Macromolecules 36(21):7977–7985
Ramirez C, Rico M, Torres A, Barral L, Lopez J, Montero B (2008) Epoxy/poss organic–inorganic hybrids: Atr-ftir and dsc studies. Eur Polymer J 44:3035–3045
Laine RM, Choi JW, Lee I (2001) Organic–inorganic nanocomposites with completely defined interfacial interactions. Adv Mater 13(11):800–803
Sanchez-Soto M, Schiraldi DA, Illescas S (2009) Study of the morphology and properties of melt-mixed polycarbonate-poss nanocomposites. Eur Polymer J 45:341–352
Hsiao BS, White H, Rafailovich M, Mather PT, Jeon HG, Phillips S, Lichtenhan J, Schwab J (2000) Nanoscale reinforcement of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss) in polyurethane elastomer. Polymer 49:437–440
Mather PT, Jeon HG, Romo-Uribe A, Haddad TS, Lichtenhan JD (1999) Mechanical relaxation and microstructure of poly (norbornyl–poss) copolymers. Macromolecules 32:1194–1203
Schwab JJ, Lichtenhan JD (1998) Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss)-based polymers. Appl Organomet Chem 12:707–713
Lichtenhan JD (1995) Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes building blocks for silsesquioxane-based polymers and hybrid materials. Comments Inorg Chem 17:115–130
Song L, He QL, Hu Y, Chen H, Liu L (2008) Study on thermal degradation and combustion behaviors of pc/poss hybrids. Polyme Degrad Stab 93:627–639
Anderson TL (1991) Fracture mechanics: fundamentals and applications. CRC Press, Boca Rotan
American society for testing and materials, Philadelphia, PA, ASTM D5045-99: Standard test methods for plain-strain fracture toughness and strain energy release rate of plastic materials
American society for testing and materials, Philadelphia, PA, ASTM D790-07: standard test methods for flexural properties of unreinforced and reinforced plastics and electrical insulating materials
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge that this work is funded in part or fully by a grant through the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Applications Project (ONAP) (Grant no. O9-20) and NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR) (Grant no. NNXO).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mishra, K., Singh, R.P. (2013). Reinforcement of Epoxy Resins with POSS for Enhancing Fracture Toughness at Cryogenic Temperature. In: Patterson, E., Backman, D., Cloud, G. (eds) Composite Materials and Joining Technologies for Composites, Volume 7. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4553-1_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4553-1_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4552-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4553-1
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)