The Epikote 828 was preheated to 80

The Epikote 828 was preheated to 80oC in a vacuum oven to reduce
the viscosity of the resin. A specific amount of nanoclay was added into the Epikote 828 and mechanically stirrer at 400 rpm
in a heated oil bath of 80oC for 2 h. The mixture was degassed in a vacuum oven at 80oC to remove the entrapped air, which
then was blended with the appropriate stoichiometric amounts of NMA hardener and BDMA accelerator for 15 min. The
nanomodified resin was afterwards poured into release-coated silicon moulds and degassed in the vacuum oven before
curing to remove any air entrapped in the mixture. Finally, the resin system was pre-cured at 80oC for 2 h, cured at 120 oC
for 3 h and post-cured at 150 oC for 4 h with a ramp rate of 1oC/min followed by cooling down to room temperature at
1oC/min.