Preparation and performance of aluminum borate whisker–reinforced epoxy composites. I. Effect of whiskers on processing,reactivity, and mechanical properties

Aluminum borate (Al₁₈B₄O₃₃) whisker–reinforced composites based on a epoxy resin, which was made up of a trifunctional epoxy resin, TDE 85, and methyl nadic anhydride (MNA), were prepared, and the effects of the whiskers on the processing, reactivity, and typical mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. Two coupling agents, aluminate (DL411A) and borate (BE4), were used to surface treat the whiskers. Results show that the addition of the whiskers does not change the reactivity of the matrix, while increasing the viscosity of the resin, but when the whisker content is less than 5 wt %, the increased viscosity does not obviously influence the processing characteristics of the resin. Mechanical properties are greatly dependent on the chemistry and concentration of the coupling agent for treating the whiskers. A good coupling agent, which has good interaction with the whiskers and the matrix, can effectively improve the compatibility between the whiskers and the matrix, and thus result in great improvement of mechanical properties. BE4 proved to be better than DL411A for treating the whiskers. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 1950–1954, 2004