In situ synthesis and characterization of ZnS/epoxy nanocomposites via gas-liquid state reaction method

In this article, the ZnS/epoxy nanocomposites were successfully prepared by the reaction of zinc acetate and H2S gas via a simple step. Epoxy resin acted as the matrix for the formation of ZnS nanoparticles (10–20 nm) in the reaction system and kept them from agglomerating. The structure, composition, and mechanical properties of the resultant products were successfully investigated by powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, and universal testing machine. Meanwhile, by employing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) we had studied, under nonisothermal condition, the kinetic analysis of the cure reaction which was performed using two classic models: Kissinger and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa. The activation energy of curing reaction was 74.63 kJ/mol and 77.57 kJ/mol, respectively, by Kissinger's and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa's methods. The possible mechanism of preparation of ZnS/epoxy composites was discussed in this article. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012