Thermo-physical and Mechanical Properties of Epoxy/Silica Nanocomposites

摘要

In this study the thermo-physical and fracture properties of silica nanoparticles in epoxyrnmatrices were investigated. A sonication technique using a suspension of silica nanoparticles inrnacetone was used to process epoxy/silica nanocomposites using both anhydride-cured and aminecuredrnepoxy. The viscoelastic properties of the nanocomposites were measured with dynamicrnmechanical analysis (DMA). Amine-cured nanocomposites with 2.5 weight percent silicarnexhibited a storage modulus increase at 30℃ of 290 MPa relative to the value of neat epoxy,rnrepresenting an 8.9 % improvement. The mechanism of silica reinforcement is discussed inrnconjunction with the Mori-Tanaka equation. To evaluate the influence of silica particles onrnthermal properties, the microstructure of the nanocomposites was interrogated using transmissionrnelectron microscopy (TEM). The results of this study show that fabrication of nanocompositesrnby sonication resulted in well-dispersed silica nanoparticles in the epoxy matrix. Critical energyrnrelease rate and Izod impact strength of both neat epoxy and epoxy/silica nanocomposites werernalso measured, and these mechanical properties are correlated with the thermophysical propertiesrnof the silica-epoxy nanocomposites.