Water transport in epoxy/MWCNT composites

Journal
European polymer journal  
Volume
49
Issue
8
Start Page
2138
End Page
2148
Citation
European Polymer Journal 8 (49): 2138-2148 (2013)
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2013.05.010
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84880165343
Publisher
Elsevier
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.
Subjects
Free volume
Hydrothermal ageing
Nanocomposite
Swelling
Thermomechanical analysis
Water diffusion
DDC Class
540: Chemie
600: Technik
620: Ingenieurwissenschaften