Influence on properties of epoxy nanocomposites with nanoparticles modified by surfactants with different molecular structures: liquid crystal, rigid and flexible segment structures

A series of the functionalized modified Al2O3 nanoparticles by surfactants with different molecular structures were prepared to research the effect of chemical structures (rigid, liquid crystal and flexible segment structures) of surfactants on the performance of epoxy resin. The surfactants were confirmed to graft onto the surface of nanoparticles successfully by fourier transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analyzer and X-ray diffraction. The field emission scanning electron microscope demonstrated the functionalized nanoparticles effectively reduced the aggregation and enhanced the interfacial bonding between nanoparticles and the matrix. The epoxy nanocomposites doped with the functionalized Al2O3 presented an obvious increase in thermal and mechanical properties. The epoxy nanocomposites with Al2O3 grafted by the surfactant with flexible segment structures had a superior promotion in thermal properties, and those with Al2O3 grafted by the surfactant with liquid crystal structures possessed the best mechanical properties. These results provide the rewarding ideas for the chemical structure selection of surfactants to obtain high performance nanomaterials.a#13;