Slurry Abrasion Resistance Improvement in Epoxy‐Based GFRPs via Silane‐Modified Nanoclay Reinforcement

ABSTRACT Nanoclay‐reinforced polymer composites used in hydraulic machinery, slurry pumps, mining equipment, and offshore structures undergo substantial degradation when exposed to slurries and aqueous environments, limiting their industrial deployment. This study addresses this challenge by investigating how silane concentration during nanoclay surface modification affects the abrasion resistance of the slurry in clay‐reinforced epoxy‐based GFRPs. In each GFRP, a constant nanoclay loading of 2 phr was maintained, as reported in earlier work. The silane concentration was varied from 1X to 4X, where X denotes the nanoclay content in the composite. GFRPs were manufactured using vacuum‐assisted resin infusion molding (VARIM), a fabrication technique employed to promote uniform resin impregnation and reduce the likelihood of void formation and processing defects. FTIR and XRD analyses confirmed successful nanoclay silanization, while XRD patterns together with TEM observations indicated improved nanoclay dispersion and a predominantly partially exfoliated morphology within the examined regions of the epoxy matrix. Slurry abrasion testing demonstrated that GFRPs incorporating silanized nanoclay at the 3X silane concentration (without acetone washing) exhibited the lowest mass loss (680.5 mg) among investigated formulations. This improved performance may be attributed to the optimized silane concentration and the absence of the acetone washing step. SEM examination of the abraded surfaces revealed wear features indicative of material removal. The study demonstrates that optimizing the silane concentration and surface‐modification procedure can improve the abrasion resistance of the slurry in nanoclay‐reinforced epoxy‐based GFRPs. These findings establish a relationship between silane concentration, nanoclay surface modification, and slurry abrasion performance in GFRP systems.