Caracterização das propriedades superficiais de nanocompósito polímeroargila montmorilonítica funcionalizada

Abstract

Nanocomposites with thermofixed polymeric matrix and nanostructured inorganic filler have been presenting greater industrial demand in recent years. Recent research in this area seeks to incorporate filler at low percentages of mass (less than 5%) in order to maximize the properties of the nanocomposite without prejudice factors such as toughness. In this work, polymer-clay nanocomposites were produced from epoxy resin and montmorillonite clay. A content of 3 %wt of clay was incorporated into the resin through dispersion in acetone, mechanical agitation and application of vacuum. The nanocomposites obtained were deposited in the form of films, on stainless steel plates. The commercial clay was treated using ethylene glycol to remove interlamellar compounds and allow exfoliation of the structure. The material was functionalized with three different coupling agents, denominated silanes, (3- Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES), Triethoxyvinylsilane, (TEVS) and 3- (Trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (MEMO). The modified minerals were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and specific surface area analysis using the BET method. The analyzes suggest that the materials obtained showed exfoliated structure before incorporation in the resin, with the silane agents incorporated in the interlayer space of the clay, which was observed through the significant modification in the basal spacing of its structure and modification of specific surface area. The analyzes of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle performed on the obtained nanocomposites indicated that the presence of coupling agents superficially modified the nanocomposites, varying their roughness and obtaining an increase of approximately 45% in the contact angle for the nanocomposite containing TEVS. Materials modified with MEMO showed slight changes in the contact angle. For the nanocomposite containing APTES, the analyzes indicated a tendency to increase hydrophilicity.