Fluorinated‐polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (F‐POSS) functionalized halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) as an antifouling additive for epoxy resin

Abstract

Antifouling epoxy resin serves as a member of advanced nanocomposite coatings and engineered surfaces. Nevertheless, developing an antifouling epoxycomposites is a state-of-the-art technology. Herein, a complex nanostructure is tailored to be served as an advanced additive giving the antifouling characteristics to the epoxy resin. F-POSS@HNT hybrid nanostructure, that is, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) decorated with fluorinated polyhedral oligomericsil sesquioxane (F-POSS), was synthesized and characterized. Chemical structure changes, thermal stability and morphology of hydroxylated HNTs (hHNTs) intermediate and F-POSS@HNT ultimate nanostructures were analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy, TGA and TEM, respectively. The F-POSS@HNTs catalyzed the epoxy-amine crosslinking reaction, taking “Good” or “Excellent” crosslinking tagsan quantified by the “Cure Index.” The apparent activation energy values were calculated for the epoxy (reference), epoxy/hHNTs, and epoxy/F-POSS@HNTs systems (26, 51, and 47 kJ mol1 , respectively). Contact angle measurements were performed via dynamic tests demonstrating improved hydro- and oleophobicity of the thermoset composites. The advancing contact angle with diiodomethane increased 36% and 30% for nanocomposites containing 5 and 10 wt.% of the developed hybrid nanostructure, respectively, compared with the neat epoxy. Likewise, 54% and 67% reduction in paraffin fouling in the same order confirmed their antifouling ability. Regarding self-cleaning characteristics, 24% and 33% surface recovery were observed, respectively.