Remya, Vasudevan Pillay;
Parani, Sundararajan;
Sakho, El Hadji Mamour;
Rajendran, Jose Varghese;
Maluleke, Rodney;
Lebepe, Thabang Calvin;
Masha, Sam;
Hameed, Nishar;
Thomas, Sabu;
Oluwafemi, Oluwatobi Samuel
Highly Toughened Nanostructured Self-Assembled Epoxy-Based Material—Correlation Study between Nanostructured Morphology and Fracture Toughness—Impact Characteristics
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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Highly Toughened Nanostructured Self-Assembled Epoxy-Based Material—Correlation Study between Nanostructured Morphology and Fracture Toughness—Impact Characteristics
Contributor:
Remya, Vasudevan Pillay;
Parani, Sundararajan;
Sakho, El Hadji Mamour;
Rajendran, Jose Varghese;
Maluleke, Rodney;
Lebepe, Thabang Calvin;
Masha, Sam;
Hameed, Nishar;
Thomas, Sabu;
Oluwafemi, Oluwatobi Samuel
Description:
<jats:p>We present an efficient and effective method for preparing a novel self-assembled nanostructured material with high toughness and impact strength from a blend of di-glycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) and epoxidized poly(styrene-block-butadiene-block-styrene) (eSBS55) tri-block copolymer. The field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope results show the nanostructured morphological characteristics of the blends. This study achieved the highest fracture toughness, with a fracture toughness in the form of critical stress intensity factors (KIC) value of 2.54 MPa m1/2, in epoxy/block copolymer blends compared to previous works in the field. The impact strength also increased by 116% compared to neat epoxy. This is a major advancement in epoxy toughening due to the use of a single secondary phase. The resulting highly tough and impact-resistant material is a promising candidate for coating applications in industries such as flooring, building, aerospace, and automobiles.</jats:p>