Unique method to improve the thermal properties of bisphenol A tetraacrylate by graphite oxide induced space confinement

Abstract

Enhancing the thermal stability of different epoxy acrylates is a critical step towards development of thermally stable organic coating materials. Herein, we examine the thermal properties of a model system based on bisphenol A tetraacrylate by a graphite oxide induced space confinement. Studies related to understanding the critical role of anisotropic particles like graphite and its derivatives in improving the thermal properties of commercially important different epoxy acrylates is still obscure. The samples with 2% (AP2) and 4% (AP4) of graphite oxide loading were found to significantly delay the onset of the thermal degradation of bisphenol A tetraacrylate by 17 °C and 28 °C respectively. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies of the composites indicated that the bisphenol A tetraacrylate was intercalated between the graphite oxide sheets, resulting in the formation of a nano brickwall type super structure. The d-spacing of graphite oxide was noted to be 0.8 nm, while in the composite, the d-spacing value obtained for AP4 was 1.2 nm. Thermodynamic calculations indicated significant perturbation in the radius of gyration of the pre-polymer in the presence of graphite oxide sheet. Such a finding can be readily extended to other layered like filler materials to understand the physical properties of the pre-polymers under space confinement.