Fuente: Journal of applied polymer Lugar: RESEARCH ARTICLE The modification of MoS2 nanosheets with polythiol enabled chemical bonding between MoS2 and the epoxy matrix, providing strong interfacial interactions.


ABSTRACT
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with a sandwich-like layered structure is regarded as a highly promising nano-additive for enhancing the mechanical properties of polymer materials. However, the surface of MoS2 is inert and lacks any active functional groups, resulting in poor compatibility with the epoxy resin (EP). In this study, MoS2 was exfoliated by the liquid-phase exfoliation method, and its surface was functionalized with polythiol. The approach aimed to embed organic molecules into the sulfur vacancy sites on the MoS2 nanosheet surfaces, thereby modulating the interface between MoS2 and epoxy resin and enhancing their interfacial interaction. The modified product was characterized in terms of structure, thickness, and morphology. The functionalized MoS2 (SH-MoS2) was then incorporated into an epoxy resin to form an adhesive, and the bonding performance of the adhesive was investigated at different adhesive layer thicknesses. Compared with the epoxy adhesive without SH-MoS2, the mechanical and bonding properties of the SH-MoS2/epoxy nanocomposite adhesive were significantly improved. This method yielded an SH-MoS2 (0.50 wt.%)/epoxy nanocomposite adhesive that exhibited superior tensile shear performance across 0.1–1 mm bondline thicknesses, with all measured values surpassing 20.7 MPa. The findings offer practical design principles for developing polymer nanocomposite adhesives applicable to wide-gap structural bonding manufacturing.