Influence of nanoclay addition on properties of unsaturated-polyester nanocomposite gel coat system

This work deals with processing of nanocomposite gel coat system using unsaturated polyester resin, aerosil powder and dodecylamine treated nanoclays. Further, the work focuses on the influence of nanoclay addition on mechanical and water barrier properties of a polyester gel coat system with different weight fractions (1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 wt.%) of nanoclay. It was found that the incorporation of nanoclay improves the mechanical and water barrier properties of nanocomposite gel coat system. The nanocomposite gel coat system exhibits 100% improvement in tensile modulus for 5 wt.% nanoclay and 24% improvement in tensile strength for 2 wt.% nanoclay. Nanocomposite gel coat system exhibit a maximum of 68% improvement in barrier resistance for 3 wt.% nanoclay compared to the conventional gel coat system.