Preparation, optimization and thermal characterization of a novel conductive thermoset nanocomposite containing polythiophene nanoparticles using dynamic thermal analysis

Polythiophene nanoparticles as a conductive filler was prepared with average diameter of 20-35 nm and its molecular structure was confirmed by the FT-IR, TEM, XRD and UV-vis analysis. A new conductive epoxy nanocomposite was synthesized by curing of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A/4,4′-(4,4′ Isopropylidenediphenoxy) bis (Phthalic Anhydride) involving various percentages of polythiophene nanoparticles. DSC and DMTA studies revealed that low percentage of the polythiophene nanoparticles, i.e. 1%, results in improved crosslink density as evidenced by increasing in the glass transition temperature. The addition of polythiophene nanoparticles into the epoxy matrix resulted in a significant increment in the electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, thermal stability and activation energy of thermal degradation. The advanced isoconversional method is utilized to describe the curing behavior and thermal degradation process of the neat epoxy and epoxy nanocomposite. We have utilized the Coats-Redfern and Criado methods to find the solid state thermal degradation reaction mechanism. For the nanocomposite, the mechanism was recognized to be two-dimensional diffusion (D₂) reaction and it changes to a nucleation and growth (A₄) for pure epoxy system.