Preparation,characterization and evaluation of polybenzoxazine thermoset/clay nanocomposites for metal coating

A series of polybenzoxazine-clay nanocomposites with various organoclay contents (3, 5, 10, and 20 wt%) were prepared by the one-shot procedure. from organo-montmorillonite (OMMT) and bifunctional benzoxazine, namely, bis-(3-dodecyel-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,3-benzoxazine) isopropane (B-dod). OMMTs were prepared by modification of Na-MMT with different ammonium salts of amines such as tyramine (Tyr), amino lauric acid (ALA) and N,N-dimethyl stearyl amine (DMS). Transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared measurements (FTIR) were used to examine the structure and modification of OMMTs. The morphology of polybenzoxazine nanocomposites (B-dod/Tyr-MMT, B-dod/ALA-MMT, B-dod/DMS-MMT) was investigated by X-ray and TEM analyses. The X-ray analysis and TEM photos indicated that organoclay was exfoliated into polybenzoxazine matrix even at the highest organoclay loading (20%). Mechanical properties (viz, adhesion on metallic substrate, scratch hardness, tensile modulus, and elongation at break) of the prepared nanocomposites were measured. The tensile properties of prepared samples were examined; as the content of modified clay was increased, the tensile modulus increased; however, the elongation at break decreased. In addition, the optimum adhesion and scratch hardness values of the prepared nanocomposites were increased more than the neat resin, also, thermogravimetric analysis has the same manner. Therefore, the prepared nanocomposite materials could be successfully used for metal coatings.