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Morphology of Epoxy/Rubber Blends

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Handbook of Epoxy Blends

Abstract

The investigations on the morphological features of epoxy/rubber blends are of great importance as the morphology controls the property and performance of these blends. The characterization techniques like optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are commonly used to evaluate the morphology and phase distribution of the dispersed rubber particles in the epoxy matrix. These characterization techniques are used to explore the morphological features in epoxy systems modified with different kinds of rubbers such as liquid rubbers, preformed core–shell rubber particles, in situ-formed rubber particles, etc. Moreover, several factors which affect the final two-phase morphology in the epoxy/rubber blends are also explored using these techniques. The fracture surface characteristics are also explored using morphological investigation of the fracture/fatigue surface of the epoxy/rubber blends to establish the toughening mechanism operating in them. While both OM and SEM are widely used to reveal the microstructure, AFM and TEM are used to trace out the nanostructure in such blends. The current chapter gives a detailed discussion on the use of such techniques to explore the morphology and the microscopic toughening phenomena operates in epoxy/rubber blends on the basis of published reports.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar

    P. Poornima Vijayan

Authors
  1. P. Poornima Vijayan
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Correspondence to P. Poornima Vijayan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India

    Jyotishkumar Parameswaranpillai

  2. Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

    Nishar Hameed

  3. Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Dresden, Germany

    Jürgen Pionteck

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China

    Eamor M. Woo

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Vijayan, P.P. (2017). Morphology of Epoxy/Rubber Blends. In: Parameswaranpillai, J., Hameed, N., Pionteck, J., Woo, E. (eds) Handbook of Epoxy Blends. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40043-3_4

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