Effects of nanoparticle and stochiometry on properties of an epoxy system

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Description/Abstract

Epoxy-based systems are used widely as dielectrics in electrical applications, especially under high temperature conditions. The chosen stoichiometry is important in determining the nature of the network that forms and hence the physical properties of the final system; a stoichiometric formulation with the optimal chemical balance between reactants will introduce good performances. However, addition of nanoparticles with large interfacial areas into epoxy systems may introduce additional chemical reactions between moieties on nanoparticle surfaces and reactants which may lead to chemical unbalance, and thus deteriorate the performance of the final nanocomposite system. This study set out to investigate the effects of stoichiometry and the introduction of nano-silica (Nanopox) on the thermal and electrical properties of an epoxy system, based on a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) type resin, which was cured using an anhydride-based hardener and coupled with a tertiary amine accelerator. The properties considered include the glass transition temperature (Tg), electric breakdown and dielectric response. Based on investigations of the effects of fillers and stoichiometry, adjustments to the ratio of resin to hardener to accelerator have been conducted in an effort to achieve an appropriate compensation for the system.