Water transport in epoxy/MWCNT composites

Moisture and water uptake of epoxy/multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composites was studied in a wide range of atmosphere relative humidity and temperatures. Addition of up to 1 wt.% of MWCNTs into the neat epoxy resulted to the twofold decrease of the diffusivity, while the levels of moisture/water uptake remained unchanged. The positive effect on the reduction of the diffusion coefficient diminishes with the increase of temperature. Differences in the water transport properties and plasticization ability of the neat polymer and its nanocomposites are explained by the free volume considerations and the polymer-water interactions, which are verified by the results of thermomechanical analysis. Water uptake by the nanocomposites resulted to a lower decrease of the storage modulus than that of the neat epoxy. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.