INTRODUCING NANOSTRUCTURED POLYURETHANES IN HIGH VOLUME APPLICATIONS

LEONEL MATIAS CHIACCHIARELLI; L. TORRE

Conferencia; SAMPE Europe SEICO 2014 Conference Paris; 2014

In this work, nanofillers with different geometries were incorporated in a polyurethane matrix so as to develop nanocomposites with improved mechanical properties. Even though the most relevant property to improve was toughness, other aspects were also contemplated. For example, the nanofiller would not cause substantial changes of the cure kinetics and chemorheology. In addition, it would not modify the cure cycle time. If the nanofiller increased substantially the cycle time, it would not be applicable for high volume applications. Another aspect was the precursor?s viscosity and rheological properties which have been designed so as to have very low viscosity. A substantial increase of viscosity associated to the incorporation of the nanofiller might be translated into processing problems. Sepiolite, montmorrillonite and silica nanofillers were tested. Mechanical properties and dispersion of the nanocomposites were studied by means of flexural tests, SEM and TEM analysis. The silica filler was used to manufacture carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRC). Those were tested by means of tensile and flexuraltests. Even at low filler concentrations (1 wt. %), substantial changes in mechanical properties were measured.