Three different protocols for the preparation of polymer layered silicate nanocomposites based upon a tri-functional epoxy resin, triglycidyl para-amino phenol (TGAP), have been compared in respect of the cure kinetics, the nanostructure and their mechanical properties. The three preparation procedures involve 2 wt% and 5 wt% of organically modified montmorillonite (MMT), and are: isothermal cu...

To answer the question “How does lanthanide doping in iron oxide affect cure kinetics of epoxy-based nanocomposites?”, we synthesized samarium (Sm)-doped Fe3O4 nanoparticles electrochemically and characterized it using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDX), tran...

Highly aromatic tricyanate ester resins exhibit glass transition temperatures well in excess of 350 degrees Celsius when thermally cured to full conversion. In many cases, though, complete conversion is difficult to achieve in practice due to the highly rigid nature of the molecules. A thorough understanding of the cure process is thus important for realizing the full potential of these materia...

The choice of a suitable material model to simulate process induced distortions is important in order achieve right first time approach the design new moulds. This work investigates ability Cure Hardening Instantaneously Linear Elastic (CHILE) and linear viscoelastic predict an aerospace composite frame. models were coupled with cure kinetics chemical shrinkage capture multi-physics phenomena t...

Matrix formulation for aero-grade high-performance carbon fibre reinforced thermoset composites is a challenging task relying on extensive knowledge of chemistry, legacy information and trial-and-error iterations to identify suitable pre-polymer resin/curative combination. This work proposes the development application cure kinetics methodology tailor preliminary matrix formulations focusing co...