SIMPLIFIED PREPARATION OF TA AND TRITON X-100 FUNCTIONALIZED CNTs IN AQUEOUS SYSTEMS AND THEIR PROPERTIES ENHANCEMENT OF WATERBORNE EPOXY RESIN

Waterborne epoxy resin (WEP) is an environmentally friendly material with low volatile organic compound (VOC) content. To improve the performance of WEP by incorporating carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the primary focus is on improving the dispersibility of CNTs within the aqueous system. In this study, we conducted noncovalent functionalization of neat CNTs (NCNTs) using tannic acid (TA) and performed noncovalent physical adsorption of NCNTs with polyethylene glycol octyl phenyl ether (Triton X-100). The modification efficacy was analyzed and confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, and Raman spectra. When the mass ratio of TA, Triton X-100, and NCNTs is 1:1:1, the treated CNTs (TCNTs) exhibit good dispersion performance through the combined effects of TA and Triton X-100. Subsequently, TCNTs were incorporated into WEP to fabricate TCNTs/WEP nanocomposites. Tensile testing shows that the tensile strength and modulus of 0.5[Formula: see text]wt.% TCNTs/WEP nanocomposites are significantly higher than WEP. TEM and SEM analyses demonstrated that 0.5[Formula: see text]wt.% TCNTs could be uniformly dispersed within WEP. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed an elevation in glass transition temperature ([Formula: see text]) of the TCNTs/WEP nanocomposites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) indicated that the addition of TCNTs did not adversely affect the thermal stability of WEP. The surface water contact angle (WCA) confirmed that the incorporation of TCNTs did not alter the surface wettability of WEP.