Effect of Morphology of Calcium Carbonate on Toughness Behavior and Thermal Stability of Epoxy-Based Composites

In this study, the modification of an epoxy matrix with different amounts of cube-like and rod-like CaCO<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles was investigated. The effects of variations in the morphology of CaCO<sub>3</sub> on the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the CaCO&...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Guijun Yang, Young-Jung Heo, Soo-Jin Park
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-03-01
Series:Processes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/7/4/178
Description
Summary:In this study, the modification of an epoxy matrix with different amounts of cube-like and rod-like CaCO<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles was investigated. The effects of variations in the morphology of CaCO<sub>3</sub> on the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the CaCO<sub>3</sub>/epoxy composites were studied. The rod-like CaCO<sub>3</sub>/epoxy composites (EP-rod) showed a higher degradation temperature (4.5 &#176;C) than neat epoxy. The results showed that the mechanical properties, such as the flexural strength, flexural modulus, and fracture toughness of the epoxy composites with CaCO<sub>3</sub> were enhanced by the addition of cube-like and rod-like CaCO<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the composites were enhanced by increasing the amount of CaCO<sub>3</sub> added but decreased when the filler content reached 2%. The fracture toughness K<sub>ic</sub> and fracture energy release rate G<sub>ic</sub> of cube-like and rod-like CaCO<sub>3</sub>/epoxy composites (0.85/0.74 MPa m<sup>1/2</sup> and 318.7/229.5 J m<sup>&#8722;2</sup>, respectively) is higher than the neat epoxy (0.52 MPa m<sup>1/2</sup> and 120.48 J m<sup>&#8722;2</sup>).
ISSN:2227-9717