Thermal and mechanical properties of highly-filled polybenzoxazine-alumina composites

Abstract

Highly filled alumina polymer composites based on bisphenol-A/aniline benzoxazine resin (BA-a) were developed. The mechanical and thermal properties of these highly filled composites at various alumina filler contents from 0 to 85 % by weight were studied by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The experimental results revealed that the storage modulus (E′) at room temperature was increased from 5.93 GPa of the neat polybenzoxazine up to about 45.27 GPa of the composites with the maximum alumina content of 83 % by weight. The glass-transition temperatures (Tg) of the composites systematically increased with increasing the alumina filler contents. The Tgs of the obtained composites having alumina content ranging from 50 to 83 % by weight were found to be 178°C to 188°C, which higher that the Tg of the polybenzoxazine, i.e. 176°C implying substantial interfacial interaction between the alumina particle and the polybenzoxazine. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications.