Preparation of cellulose nanoparticles/epoxy resin composites using the in-situ reaction method for strengthening and toughening epoxy resin film simultaneously

To improve the mechanical properties of epoxy resin (EP), cellulose nanoparticles (CNP)/EP composites were prepared using an in-situ reaction method. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that cellulose nanocrystalline (CNC) decomposed into CNP in the reaction, and grafted with epoxy resin E44. Environmental scanning electron microscope analysis showed that the CNP had good interfacial compatibility and dispersion in the EP. TEM analysis showed that the CNC decomposed into CNP during the process of copolymerization with epoxy resin E44, and the size of the CNP was around 50–100 nm. With the addition of 0.3 wt% CNC, the tensile strength of the CNP/EP composite film increased by 24%, the tensile modulus increased by 26%, the elongation at break increased by 61%, and tensile toughness increased by 101%. Therefore, in this work, we presented a novel cellulose nanoparticle to simultaneously strengthen and toughen epoxy resin.