ABSTRACT
The in-situ polymerization method was employed to fabricate the epoxy/organoclay nanocomposite. The resin/organoclay suspension was stirred for 1 h at a shear rate of 3000 rpm at room temperature and was subsequently sonicated at 70 W and 42 kHz for 3 hr at 60ºC. This was followed by a degassing procedure for 2 hrs at 60ºC. Finally, the required amount of hardener was added into the resin/organoclay mixture to form epoxy/organoclay composite samples. The samples prepared through this process were characterized (by XRD and TEM) as intercalated/exfoliated nanocomposite.
