Effect of silica and chemical modification on dispersion of carbon black nanoparticles in epoxy resin for use in smart materials

Abstract

The addition of nanoparticles into organic polymers provides an efficient means to improve the properties of the matrix polymer. The properties of such polymer nanocomposites depend on the nanoparticles that are dispersed within the polymer matrix, as a result of incompatibility, the dispersion of synthesized inorganic nanoparticles in polymer matrices is very challenging, this paper report the synergistic effect of the use silica, thermal and chemical modification to improve the dispersion of carbon black (CB) nanoparticle in epoxy resin. The nanoparticles and the epoxy nanocomposite were investigated using XRD, XPS, FESEM, FTIR, BET/SAP, TEM and particle size zetasizer. The ESEM image shows a well dispersed CB nanoparticle within the host epoxy resin. The research considered the synergistic effects of silica addition, thermal treatment and chemical surface modification of Carbon black (CB) nanoparticle in the creation of a well dispersed network of conductive nanoparticle in epoxy. A nanocomposite coating over a laboratory modelled pipeline was generated; the nanocomposite was used as a piezoresistive sensor to capture vibration data as fluid is pumped through an experimental modelled pipeline.