Influence of silica fillers during the electron irradiation of DGEBA/TETA epoxy resins, part II: Study of the thermomechanical properties

This work describes the influence of silica fillers on the thermomechanical properties of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A/triethylenetetramine (DGEBA/TETA) epoxy resins during ageing under electron beam irradiation. Whatever be the silica filler (pure micrometric ground and spherical silicas, nanometric silicas and coupling agent treated silicas), the glass transition temperature of the epoxy resins decreases with increasing irradiation dose, meaning that the main effect of the irradiation is chain scission. No influence of the silica fillers has been detected from the changes in the glass transition temperature with the increase in the irradiation dose. The disappearance of the cooperativity of the γ relaxation, the decrease of the α relaxation and the decrease of the elastic modulus at the rubbery plateau observed by dynamic mechanical analyses involve a decrease in the crosslink density of the epoxy resins. The occurrence of chemical reactions between the epoxy resin and the silica surface at high irradiation doses has been shown. Moreover, we show evidence that chemical reactions between the epoxy resin and the silica surface occur at high irradiation dose.