Effect of reactive layered double hydroxides on the thermal and mechanical properties of LDHs/epoxy nanocomposites

LDHs particles, including LDH-amino benzoate (LDHs-AB) and LDH-carbonate (LDHs-CB) particles, were prepared with coprecipitation method. After the intercalation of the amino benzoate, LDHs-AB particles have reactive and hydrophobic properties. In the preparation of the LDHs-AB/epoxy nanocomposites, the pre-intercalation of the EPON 828 resin into the LDHs-AB interlayer galleries prior to the addition of DDM curing agent was performed. Subsequently, after the addition of the DDM monomers, cross-linking polymerization was performed in the LDHs-AB intragalleries. It expands the interlayer space and well separates these nanolayers from one another to achieve the exfoliated nanocomposites. In addition, the strong chemical bondings formed from the reaction of the reactive LDHs-AB nanolayers and epoxy molecules lead to excellent compatible nanocomposites. Accordingly, exfoliated and compatible LDHs-AB/epoxy nanocomposites exhibit outstanding performance in thermal and mechanical properties compared to the pristine epoxy resin. On the contrary, LDHs-CB/epoxy nanocomposites exhibit a little enhancement on their properties because of the stacked lamellar LDHs-CB particles and weak compatibility in the epoxy nanocomposites.