Optimizing processing conditions to influence the morphology of nanocomposite

The primary objective of the study is to improve clay platelet separation in epoxy resin matrix. Although considerable progress has been made in understanding the role of chemistry in influencing clay platelet separation, there are many issues related to processing and thermodynamics that remain unresolved. Therefore, in this study we investigate the impact of selected processing parameters like diluent concentration, soaking duration, and sonication conditions, on the nancomposites structure formation. Based on XRD peak intensity, we believe that nanocomposites formulated by soaking clay and in a compatible reactive diluent have the clay platelets more exfoliated than nanocomposite without clay soaking in reactive diluent. Sonication in combination with soaking of clay yields a considerably improved exfoliated nanocomposites. For example, 3h soaking and 30 minute sonication using dismembrator was found to be effective in formulating a nanocomposite with partially exfoliated structure.