TY - JOUR
T1 - Moisture absorption and spectroscopic studies of epoxy clay nanocomposite
AU - Muralishwara, K.
AU - Sudhakar, Y. N.
AU - Kini, U. Achutha
AU - Sharma, Sathyashankara
AU - Gurumurthy, B. M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) for providing necessary laboratory and testing facilities to carry out the research work. Authors would like to express deep gratitude to Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, for having provided the Advanced Material Testing laboratory facilities and moral support to carry out the research work. We would also like to thank Head of the Department of Chemistry, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, for having permitted to use Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy instrument. We also thank Metallurgy and Materials Engineering Department, NITK, Surathkal, Karnataka for providing XRD testing facility.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Epoxy resins are prone to serious moisture absorption inspite of their inherent advantages, which can be mitigated by the incorporation of montmorillonite nanoclay that provide tortuous path to flow of moisture. Moisture absorption studies of epoxy clay nanocomposites is carried out, to analyse the effect of nanoclay content, immersion media and immersion temperature. Nanocomposites prepared in 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt% using magnetic stirring and ultrasonication and neat epoxy specimen were immersed in distilled water and artificial seawater maintained at 28 and 38 °C till saturation. Fick’s and Langmuir’s models were applied to calculate the kinetic parameters from the water absorption graphs. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM–EDX) characterizations were performed. Diffusivity is least for nanocomposite containing 0.5 wt% nanoclay at both temperatures in both medium. However, it is least when the medium is distilled water. As the temperature of immersion medium increases, the diffusivity also increases. Saturation moisture uptake increased with increase in nanoclay content, because of the residual hydrophilic nature of nanoclay. AFM and XRD analysis revealed better dispersion and exfoliated structure of nanoclay respectively at 0.5 wt% loading. FTIR spectroscopy was applied to identify the chemical bonds that helped in proposing the reaction mechanism of the nanocomposite synthesis. Spectra comparison of dry and wet specimens complimented the moisture absorption data by showing lower infrared transmittance in wet specimens. With Increase in nanoclay content, the transmittance decreased corresponding to increase in saturation moisture uptake for distilled water immersed specimens. SEM–EDX analysis distinguished between the cations entered from the artificial seawater and cations that were still present in the nanoclay.
AB - Epoxy resins are prone to serious moisture absorption inspite of their inherent advantages, which can be mitigated by the incorporation of montmorillonite nanoclay that provide tortuous path to flow of moisture. Moisture absorption studies of epoxy clay nanocomposites is carried out, to analyse the effect of nanoclay content, immersion media and immersion temperature. Nanocomposites prepared in 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt% using magnetic stirring and ultrasonication and neat epoxy specimen were immersed in distilled water and artificial seawater maintained at 28 and 38 °C till saturation. Fick’s and Langmuir’s models were applied to calculate the kinetic parameters from the water absorption graphs. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM–EDX) characterizations were performed. Diffusivity is least for nanocomposite containing 0.5 wt% nanoclay at both temperatures in both medium. However, it is least when the medium is distilled water. As the temperature of immersion medium increases, the diffusivity also increases. Saturation moisture uptake increased with increase in nanoclay content, because of the residual hydrophilic nature of nanoclay. AFM and XRD analysis revealed better dispersion and exfoliated structure of nanoclay respectively at 0.5 wt% loading. FTIR spectroscopy was applied to identify the chemical bonds that helped in proposing the reaction mechanism of the nanocomposite synthesis. Spectra comparison of dry and wet specimens complimented the moisture absorption data by showing lower infrared transmittance in wet specimens. With Increase in nanoclay content, the transmittance decreased corresponding to increase in saturation moisture uptake for distilled water immersed specimens. SEM–EDX analysis distinguished between the cations entered from the artificial seawater and cations that were still present in the nanoclay.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127560128&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85127560128&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00289-022-04200-7
DO - 10.1007/s00289-022-04200-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85127560128
SN - 0170-0839
VL - 79
SP - 5587
EP - 5611
JO - Polymer Bulletin
JF - Polymer Bulletin
IS - 7
ER -