Highly Toughened Nanostructured Self-Assembled Epoxy-Based Material—Correlation Study between Nanostructured Morphology and Fracture Toughness—Impact Characteristics
Vasudevan Pillay Remya,
Sundararajan Parani,
El Hadji Mamour Sakho,
Jose Varghese Rajendran,
Rodney Maluleke,
Thabang Calvin Lebepe,
Sam Masha,
Nishar Hameed,
Sabu Thomas,
Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi
Affiliations
Vasudevan Pillay Remya
Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
Sundararajan Parani
Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
El Hadji Mamour Sakho
Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
Jose Varghese Rajendran
Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
Rodney Maluleke
Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
Thabang Calvin Lebepe
Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
Sam Masha
Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
Nishar Hameed
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Sabu Thomas
International and Inter University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam 686560, Kerala, India
Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi
Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
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.
