The effects of vinyl ester resins (VER) with varied degrees of polymerization, and the amount of MMT added on the volume shrinkage characteristics for VER-montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites prepared by in-situ intercalative cure of styrene (St)/VER/12-aminolauric acid (12-ALA)-treated MMT (AMMT) ternary systems at 110oC have been investigated. The number of 12-ALA residue in the 12-ALA-treated MMT has been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). X-ray diffraction results, obtained both experimentally and theoretically, and TEM observations have supported the formation of a nanocomposite for the St/VER/AMMT cured system, as characterized by a random dispersion of intercalated/exfoliated aggregates of clay sheets in the polymer matrix. Depending on the molecular weights of the VER resins (degree of polymerization of n = 0.11 or 2) and the content of AMMT (1 to 15 wt%) added, the AMMT could lead to a reduction of cyclization reaction for VER resins during the cure, and the microgel structure during the cure would be less compact, and, in turn, be favorable for the decrease of intrinsic polymerization shrinkage after the cure. It was found that with the adjustment of self-synthesized VER molecular weight to prevent the phase separation of the St/VER/AMMT ternary system prior to cure, adding a higher content of AMMT as an inorganic low-profile additive (ILPA) in the VER resin may result in a lower volume shrinkage after cure, and adding 15% of AMMT in the VER resin (n = 2) can even lead to a volume expansion of about 0.2%.

Volume shrinkage characteristics for vinyl ester resin-montmorillonite nanocomposites

248th National Meeting (2014)

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