Curing behavior and physical properties of epoxy nanocomposites comprising amine‐functionalized carbon nanofillers

Abstract Carbon nanofillers like nanotubes and nanofibers have been used to reinforce various epoxy systems. The incorporation of carbon nanofillers into a thermosetting epoxy system enhanced the thermal and mechanical properties of the epoxy system. The best performance of an epoxy nanocomposite system with carbon nanofillers would be resulted from the homogeneous dispersion of the nanofillers and strong interfacial adhesion between the epoxy matrix and the nanofillers. Therefore, amine‐functionalization of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) was carried out via treating them with 4‐aminobenzoic acid in polyphosphoric acid. FTIR spectroscopy, XPS, TGA, and FE‐SEM analyses confirmed that the functionalization was successful. Curing behavior and thermo‐physical properties of the nanocomposites comprising the pristine or functionalized carbon nanofillers were investigated and compared with each other. Fractured surfaces of the nanocomposites were investigated by FE‐SEM. The functionalized MWNTs induced stronger interfacial adhesion than the functionalized CNFs and resulted in considerable improvement in the physical properties of the epoxy nanocomposites. POLYM. COMPOS., 31:1449–1456, 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers