Thermosetting resin composition and method of producing the same
A thermosetting resin composition including: a matrix including a thermosetting resin and an elastomer; and carbon nanofibers dispersed in the matrix. The elastomer includes an unsaturated bond or a group having affinity to the carbon nanofibers.
1. A method of producing a thermosetting resin composition comprising:
(1) mixing a thermosetting resin and an elastomer including an unsaturated bond or a group having affinity to carbon nanofibers; and
(2) mixing carbon nanofibers into the mixture of the thermosetting resin and the elastomer, and uniformly dispersing the carbon nanofibers by applying a shear force,
wherein:
the carbon nanofiber content of the thermosetting resin composition is 8 wt % to 30 wt %;
a curing agent is added in the step (1) or the step (2); and
the elastomer content in a polymer component containing the curing agent, the thermosetting resin, and the elastomer is 10 wt % to 40 wt %.
2. The method of producing a thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanofibers have an average diameter of 0.5 to 500 nm.
3. The method of producing a thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 1 , wherein a network component of the elastomer in an uncrosslinked form has a spin-spin relaxation time (T2n) measured at 30° C. by a Hahn-echo method using a pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique of 100 to 3,000 microseconds.
4. The method of producing a thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 1 , wherein the thermosetting resin is an epoxy resin; and wherein the elastomer is an epoxidized elastomer.
5. The method of producing the thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanofiber content of the thermosetting resin composition is 9.5 wt % to 29.6 wt %.
6. The method of producing the thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanofiber content of the thermosetting resin composition is 11.1 wt % to 29.6 wt %.
7. The method of producing the thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 1 , wherein the elastomer content in the polymer component is 12.5 wt % to 26.3 wt %.
8. The method of producing the thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 1 , wherein the elastomer content in the polymer component is 26.3 wt % to 40 wt %.
9. The method of producing a thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 1 , wherein step (1) is performed by using an open-roll method.
10. The method of producing the thermosetting resin composition as defined in claim 9 , wherein step (2) is performed by using an open-roll method.