Enhancement of interfacial adhesion of epoxy/red mud nanocomposites produced by acidic surface treatment on red mud

In this work, red mud (RM) was chemically modified by 0.1, 1, and 5 M H₃PO₄ solution to prepare epoxy/RM nanocomposites. The effect of chemical treatment on pH, acid-base values, specific surface area, and porosity of RM surface was analyzed. To estimate the mechanical interfacial properties of epoxy/RM nanocomposites, the critical stress intensity factor (K_IC) was measured. From the experimental results, it was clearly revealed that the porosity, specific surface area, and acid values of RM surface were developed as the increase of the treatment concentration due to the increase of acidic functional group, including hydroxyl group on RM surface. The mechanical interfacial properties of epoxy/treated-RM nanocomposites were higher than those of epoxy/RM as-received due to an improvement of interfacial bonding between basic matrix and RM surface.