Ageing effects on electrical, morphological, and mechanical properties of a low viscosity epoxy nanocomposite

This research highlights the influence of alumina nanoparticles on different ageing concepts in order to study ageing consequences on sub-micron structures for a novel nanocomposite based on glycerol diglycidyl ether (GDE) and 3,3-dimethyl glutaric anhydride (DGA). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to evaluate thermal degradation and corrosion resistance of the epoxy in exposure to distilled water and 10 wt% sulphuric acid solution at various times. It was found that the resistance of the epoxy to corrosive electrolyte was significantly improved using alumina nanoparticles. The water uptake behaviour was also evaluated by EIS measurements. The results showed that ageing for 2 months led to increase in the charge transfer resistance. Surface topography and roughness were studied using Atomic Force microscopy (AFM). Ageing was confirmed by the flattening of the surfaces and observed to be significant for the system without nanoalumina. Results from tensile measurements showed that the nanocomposite system gives better mechanical properties after ageing in comparison to the neat GDE system.