Vito Cataldo
Abstract:
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to determine the surface elasticity of a rubber-enforced epoxy by measuring the adhesive interactions between the AFM probe and rubbery particles under zero external load. A mixture of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A resin, Epon 828 and carboxyl terminated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (CTBN, 12.5 wt.%) was cured using piperidine at 90¢ªC for 16 hours. Recent studies have shown that the inclusion of a rubbery phase toughens epoxy, and this study will explore the modulus of the rubbery phase on the nanoscale. Surface roughness and type of substrate for casting can be a factor in this technique; changes in the surface topography may mask rubber particles and the substrate used for creating the epoxy surface may impact the surface morphology under study. For this reason, rubber-modified epoxy samples were cured on an atomically flat surface of a single NaCl crystal. Given that epoxies are widely used as coatings on metals, the epoxy surface morphology on a more hydrophobic and metallic substrate may be more relevant to study. In this lab, we cured rubber enforced epoxy on aluminium and a flat poly(styrene) films.
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Back to The 33rd Northeast Regional Meeting (July 14-17, 2005)