<br/>Bacterial cellulose nanofiber mats are excellent reinforcement for epoxy composites due to the good mechanical properties of the highly crystalized individual nanofibers and the continuous porous structure. In this work, bacterial cellulose mats were impregnated with epoxy-anhydride resins under vacuum and then cured under hot press. Thermal and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were systematically studied at different fiber loadings. Significant improvement in both mechanical strength and glass transition temperature were observed by comparison with the neat resin as probed by tensile testing and dynamical mechanical analysis. The effect of the cellulose nanofibers on the curing progress was studied by DSC. The results suggest that the surface hydroxyl groups of the nanofibers could facilitate the curing of the epoxy-anhydride system. The improvement in mechanical and thermal properties could be attributed to the good interfacial interactions between nanofibers and the epoxy matrix.

Bacterial cellulose nanofiber mats as reinforcement for epoxy-anhydride systems

254th National Meeting (2017)

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