Epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) resin with 6.1 wt.% of epoxy content
and molecular weight of about 950 g/mol was supplied by Shangdong
Longkou Longda Chemical Industry (China). Methylhexahydropthalic
anhydride (MHHPA, CAPE Technology, Malaysia) and the 2-ethyl-4-
methylimidazole (EMI, Sigma–Aldrich, Malaysia) were selected as the
curing agent and catalyst, respectively. Organo-montmorillonite clay
(OMMT, Nanomer I.28E) was purchased from Nanocor, Inc., (USA).
Table 1 shows the material designations and compositions of the
ESO/OMMT nanocomposites