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

• Main Authors: Guijun Yang, Young-Jung Heo, Soo-Jin Park
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-03-01
• Series: Processes
• Subjects: epoxy composites; calcium carbonate; mechanical properties; thermal properties
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/7/4/178

In this study, the modification of an epoxy matrix with different amounts of cube-like and rod-like CaCO₃ nanoparticles was investigated. The effects of variations in the morphology of CaCO₃ on the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the CaCO₃/epoxy composites were studied. The rod-like CaCO₃/epoxy composites (EP-rod) showed a higher degradation temperature (4.5 °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 CaCO₃ were enhanced by the addition of cube-like and rod-like CaCO₃ nanoparticles. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the composites were enhanced by increasing the amount of CaCO₃ added but decreased when the filler content reached 2%. The fracture toughness K_ic and fracture energy release rate G_ic of cube-like and rod-like CaCO₃/epoxy composites (0.85/0.74 MPa m^1/2 and 318.7/229.5 J m^−2, respectively) is higher than the neat epoxy (0.52 MPa m^1/2 and 120.48 J m^−2).