Theses and Dissertations

Author

Gang Huang

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Pittman, Charles U.

Committee Member

Beatty, Alicia M.

Committee Member

Toghiani, Hossein

Date of Degree

8-5-2006

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Chemistry

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Chemistry

Abstract

Five series of PT-30/organoclay (Cloisite 10A, Cloisite 30B, Nanomer I.28E, Nanomer I.30E and Nanomer I.44PA) composites were prepared and characterized. The dispersion of clay tactoids in PT-30 resin was studied by XRD and TEM. XRD analyses determined that the d-spacings of each nanoclays of these were expanded upon dispersing in the PT-30 matrix versus the as-received clay. TEM micrographs further demonstrated that the intercalation of clay layers by PT-30 occurred during the curing process. Histograms of clay tactoids distributions were generated based on the combination of XRD and TEM results. The glass transition temperatures (Tg) of selected PT-30/clay composites were measured by DSC and compared. Partial clay exfoliation with some resin intercalation was demonstrated. The average flexural strengths and flexural moduli of all composites were obtained using three-point bending tests.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/17338

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