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8306715 
Meetings & Symposia 
Sonochemical coating of TiC nanoparticles on expandable polymeric microspheres, thermal & mechanical properties of microspheres/epoxy nanocomposites 
Rangari, VK; Hassan, TA; Mayo, Q; Jeelani, S 
2007 
Santa Clara, CA 
2007 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show - NSTI Nanotech 2007 
4 
498-501 
English 
Titanium carbide (TiC) nanoparticals (μ80nm) were sonochemically coated on expandable thermoplastic (Expancel®) microspheres and they were further infused in to the epoxy resin using a non-contact defoaming mixer. For synthesis of epoxy based nanocomposite material containing TiC/polymeric micospheres, we have followed three steps. In a first step, the expandable microsphere (acrylonitrile and methylacrylonitrile polymer) and titanium carbide nanoparticles were mixed in n-hexane solvent and irradiated with a high intensity (Ti-horn, 20 kHz, 100 W/cm2) ultrasounic horn for 1-hour at 10°C. The dry powder of titanium carbide coated polymeric microspheres was separated by evaporation of n-hexane at 60°C for 1 hour. In second step these microspheres expanded to their maximum size by heating the (1 gram) sample in a glass beaker to 190°C for 20 minutes. In the final third step, 1wt% of the expanded TiC/polymeric spheres dispersed in epoxy part-A using a non-contact defoaming mixer (Thinky, Japan) for 15 minutes. The part-B was then added to the mixture of part-A containing TiC/polymeric spheres and mixed again using a noncontact defoaming mixer for 10 minutes. Finally the resin mixture poured in to a polypropylene container and cured at room temperature for 24 hours. The TiC nanoparticles coating on polymeric spheres and as-prepared nanocomposite samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Compression tests have also been carried out for both nanocomposite and neat epoxy systems. Details of the synthesis, thermal and mechanical characterization are presented in this paper. 
Epoxy; Nanocomposites foam; Sonochemical; TiC