Synergistic toughening of epoxy resin byCTBNandCM‐β‐CD

Abstract Carboxymethyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (CM‐β‐CD) and carboxyl terminated liquid nitrile rubber (CTBN) were used as binary component fillers in toughening the epoxy resin (E‐54). For a single component filler system, the addition of CTBN resulted in significantly improved fracture toughness but reduction of glass transition temperature ( T g ) and modulus of epoxy resin. On the other hand, the addition of CM‐β‐CD resulted in a modest increase in modulus and T g , and significant improvement in toughness. This work provides a promising route of nanocomposites with excellent toughness. Besides the mechanism of synergistic toughening in this project was explained, and the major toughening mechanisms were attributed to interfacial micro‐cracks, energy dissipation of CM‐β‐ CD. This work gives us a further understanding of the modification effect of β‐ CD.