Remarkable enhancement of thermal stability of epoxy resin through the incorporation of mesoporous silica micro-filler
Farzana Yeasmin,
Abul K. Mallik,
Adib H. Chisty,
Fataha N. Robel,
Md. Shahruzzaman,
Papia Haque,
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman,
Nanami Hano,
Makoto Takafuji,
Hirotaka Ihara
Affiliations
Farzana Yeasmin
Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
Abul K. Mallik
Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh; Corresponding author.
Adib H. Chisty
Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
Fataha N. Robel
Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Sonapur, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh
Md. Shahruzzaman
Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
Papia Haque
Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman
Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
Nanami Hano
Department of Applied Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto, 860-8555, Japan
Makoto Takafuji
Department of Applied Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto, 860-8555, Japan
Hirotaka Ihara
Department of Applied Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto, 860-8555, Japan
For the first time, we incorporated mesoporous micro-silica (5 μm, pore size = 50 nm) as a filler in epoxy resin aiming to enter polymer into the pore of the silica. As expected, the thermal stability of the composite increased remarkably, followed by noteworthy thermal degradation kinetics when compared to the controlled cured epoxy resin. Composites were prepared by the direct dispersion of modified nano-silica, modified mesoporous micro-silica, unmodified mesoporous micro-silica, non-porous micro-silica, and irregular micro-silica of various pore sizes as fillers in diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A epoxy resin via ultra-sonication and shear mixing, followed by oven-curing with 4,4-diaminodiphenyl sulfone. DSC and TGA analyses demonstrated a higher glass transition temperature (increased by 3.65–5.75 °C) and very high activation energy for thermal degradation (average increase = 46.2%) was obtained for the same unmodified silica composite compared to pure epoxy, respectively.
