Influence of interphase material and clay particle shape on the effective properties of epoxy-clay nanocomposites

Influence of interphase material and clay particle shape on the effective elastic properties of epoxy/clay nanocomposites (ECNs) containing randomly oriented exfoliated nanoclay particles is investigated by using the Mori-Tanaka method and a hybrid method. The effective particle concept is used to model the clay particle surrounded by the interphase material. Non-uniform distribution of the aspect ratio (AR) of clay particles is modelled by using the Gauss and rectangular distributions. The results indicate that the interphase thickness, interphase stiffness, clay AR distribution and clay particle shape have a significant influence on the Young's modulus of ECNs, but not on the Poisson's ratio. However, Poisson's ratio of the interphase material has a considerable influence on the Poisson's ratio of ECNs. Finally, a comparison of analytical and experimental results is presented.