Toughening of vinyl ester resins by two-dimensional MXene nanosheets

doi:10.1007/s11705-022-2208-5

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (11) : 1651-1658 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2208-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Toughening of vinyl ester resins by two-dimensional MXene nanosheets

Yurun Dai¹, Heng Fang²(

), Zong Lu¹, Zhuohong Yang², Yanying Wei¹(

)

¹. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Green Chemical Product Technology, State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
². Key Laboratory for Bio-based Materials and Energy of Ministry of Education, College of Materials and Energy, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China

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Abstract

Two-dimensional nanosheets are highly effective tougheners for vinyl ester resins. The toughening effect is related to the high specific surface area and unique two-dimensional planar structure of the nanosheets. In this study, a coupling agent γ-(2,3-epoxypropoxy) propytrimethoxysilane (Kh-560) was used to modify MXene nanosheets (M-MXene) for use in toughening vinyl ester resin. The mechanical properties, including the tensile strength, flexural strength, Young’s modulus and elongation, of neat vinyl ester resin and vinyl ester resin modified with MXene and M-MXene were investigated. The results showed that modification significantly improved the mechanical properties of the vinyl ester resin. The tensile and flexural strengths of the MXene-nanosheet-modified vinyl ester resin were 27.20% and 25.32% higher, respectively, than those of the neat vinyl ester resin. The coupling agent improved the interfacial compatibility between the MXene nanosheets and vinyl ester resin, which resulted in the tensile and flexural strengths of the M-MXene-nanosheet-modified vinyl ester resin being 52.57% and 54.60% higher, respectively, than those of the neat vinyl ester resin for a loading quantity of nanosheets of only 0.04 wt %, which is economically viable. The main mechanisms by which the nanosheets toughen the resin are crack deflection and crack pinning.

Keywords MXene nanosheets 2D material vinyl ester resin modification coupling agent

Corresponding Author(s): Heng Fang,Yanying Wei

Online First Date: 03 November 2022 Issue Date: 13 December 2022

Cite this article:

Yurun Dai,Heng Fang,Zong Lu, et al. Toughening of vinyl ester resins by two-dimensional MXene nanosheets[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(11): 1651-1658.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-022-2208-5
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2022/V16/I11/1651

Fig.1 Preparation process of the MXene nanosheets and nanosheets/resin composites.

Fig.2 SEM images of (a) the MXene nanosheets in low magnification and (b) the MXene nanosheets in high magnification.

Fig.3 The SEM images and elemental distribution results of (a) the MXene nanosheets and (b) the M-MXene nanosheets.

Fig.4 Infrared spectra results of the MXene and M-MXene nanosheets.

Fig.5 Tensile toughness (σt) of the MXene/M-MXene modified VER composites. (a) Tensile strength and (b) tensile elongation for the MXene modified VER composites, (c) tensile strength and (d) tensile elongation for the M-MXene modified VER composites.

Fig.6 Tensile modulus (Et) of the MXene/M-MXene modified VER composites.

Fig.7 Flexural strength of (a) the MXene modified VER composites and (b) the M-MXene modified VER composites and (c) flexural modulus of the MXene/M-MXene modified VER composites.

Fig.8 Representative SEM image of the failed compact tension sample of the neat VER (a) in low magnification and (b) in high magnification. Yellow arrow indicates the direction that crack propagates.

Fig.9 Representative SEM images of the failed compact tension samples of the MXene modified resin samples with loading amount of (a) 0.016 wt %, (c) 0.024 wt %, (e) 0.032 wt %, (g) 0.040 wt %, (i) 0.048 wt % and M-MXene modified resin samples with loading amount of (b) 0.016 wt %, (d) 0.024 wt %, (f) 0.032 wt %, (h) 0.040 wt %, (j) 0.048 wt %. Yellow arrows indicate the direction that crack propagates.

Fig.10 A brief schematic of possible mechanism that MXene nanosheets toughens VER. (a) crack propagation path of neat VER; (b) crack propagation path of MXene nanosheets modified VER.

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