REDUCTION OF RESIDUAL-STRESS IN MONTMORILLONITE EPOXY COMPOUNDS

An epoxy resin was cured while in intimate contact with small amounts of epoxyphilic montmorillonites. It was determined that cured epoxy exists within the montmorillonite interlayer by the observation of very high interlayer spacings, even greater than 8 nm. Generally, epoxy compounds containing montmorillonites that had been swollen in the curing agent prior to curing exhibited larger interlayer spacings, especially among the non-dispersed montmorillonite layers. The maximum observed residual stress was reduced by greater than 50% in the epoxyphilic montmorillonite/epoxy compounds over that of the pure epoxy. The epoxyphilic montmorillonite/epoxy compounds generally exhibited higher values of glass transition temperature, flexural modulus, and ultimate flexural strength than the pure epoxy. The tyramine montmorillonite compounds typically had the highest values overall.