Effect of an amine-aldehyde condensate modifier on the thermal and mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced epoxy composites
Abstract
Purpose
The manufacture of polymer composites with a lower environmental footprint requires incorporation of sustainably sourced components. In addition, the incorporation of novel components should not compromise the material properties. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of a synthetic amine functional toluidine acetaldehyde condensate (AFTAC) as a modifier for fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. One of the fiber components was sourced from agricultural byproducts, and glass fiber was used as the fiber component for comparison.
Design/methodology/approach
The AFTAC condensate was synthesized via an acid-catalyzed reaction between o-toluidine and acetaldehyde. To demonstrate its efficacy as a toughening agent for diglycidyl ether bisphenol A resin composites and for the comparison of reinforcing materials of interest, composites were fabricated using a natural fiber (mat stick) and a synthetic glass fiber as the reinforcing material. A matched metal die technique was used to fabricate the composites. Composites were prepared and their mechanical and thermal properties were evaluated.
Findings
The inclusion of AFTAC led to an improvement in the mechanical strengths of these composites without any significant deterioration of the thermal stability. It was also observed that the fracture strengths for mat stick fiber-reinforced composites were lower than that of glass fiber-reinforced composites.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the use of the AFTAC modifier as well as incorporation of mat stick fibers in epoxy composites has not been demonstrated previously.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Conflicts of interest: It is hereby declared that there are no conflicts of interest to publish this work.
Data availability statement: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).
Funding: This work was funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board; Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur; and Department of Science and Technology, Government of West Bengal. The authors acknowledge DST-FIST for FESEM facility access.
Citation
Jana, G.K., Bera, S., Maity, R., Maity, T., Mahato, A., Roy, S., Mohapatra, H. and Samanta, B.C. (2023), "Effect of an amine-aldehyde condensate modifier on the thermal and mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced epoxy composites", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/PRT-01-2023-0009
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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