High compatibility of the poly(oxypropylene)amine-intercalated montmorillonite for epoxy

Abstract

The poly(oxypropylene)amine (POP-amine) intercalated montmorillonite (MMT) was found to have a high organophilicity and compatibility with epoxy materials. The 2000 g mol-1 molecular weight POP-amine modified MMT, analyzed to have 63 w% organics and 58.0 Å X-ray diffraction (XRD) d-spacing, was compounded with a curing agent (Jeffamine® D2000) and an epoxy resin (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A). With 1-10 w% organoclay additions, the cured epoxies exhibited an exfoliated characteristic and significant improvements in thermal stability, solvent resistance and mechanical properties. The tensile strength (2.8 vs. 0.3 Mpa), flexural modulus (9.6 vs. 3.1 Mpa), and elongation (81.2 vs. 25.3%) were observed for the improved epoxy polymer.