Water based quad acrylic copolymer/cloisite 30B nanocomposite heat resistant adhesive: thermal and rheological properties

In this study, a quad acrylic copolymer composed of four monomers namely acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, butyl acrylate, and methyl methacrylate/cloisite30B(C30B) nanocomposites with different loading of nanoclay (0.5–3.0%) is prepared by the in-situ method for heat resistant adhesive application. Different parameters like solid content, solubility, appearance, acid value, and pH values are measured for each nanoclay filled copolymer. For dispersion and thermal characterization of nanocomposite X-ray diffraction (XRD), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) are performed. Epoxy resin along with curing agent is added to the acrylic copolymer/C30B nanocomposite to prepare adhesive. The rheological properties for amplitude sweep, frequency sweep, and temperature scan are analyzed. The nanoclay content doesn't affect the shear-thinning component significantly but improves the complex viscosity and elastic behavior of the adhesives. The crossover point shows good dispersion of C30B up to 2.0% in nanocomposite adhesive. Peel strength is found to be increased with an increase in nanofiller content up to 2.0%. A significant improvement in peel strength is observed when exposed to 150 °C for 45 min. Temperature sweep study by rheology and peel strength results at high temperature suggest that these adhesives can be used in high-temperature resistance adhesive application areas like heat seal packaging and fabric lamination.