ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF EPOXY-NANOCLAY COMPOSITE

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effects of nanoclay additives on the electrical and mechanical properties of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin. Epoxy-clay nanocomposites were synthesized using organically modified two montmorillonite clays (MMT) with different interlamellar spacing (31.5 angstrom and 18.5 angstrom). The electrical and mechanical properties of epoxy-clay nanocopomosites were measured with variation of the amount and type of clay. The nanocomposites were found to be homogenous materials although the nanocomposites still have clay aggregates with increasing nanoclay contents. The dielectric constant showed between 3:2 similar to 3:5 and the dielectric loss showed between 3:2 similar to 5:7% in all nanocoposites. The dielectric strength and tensile strength of the 5 wt% Cloisite 15A added epoxy-oclay nanocomposite were 23.9 kV/mm and 86.7 MPa, respectively