The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles on properties of epoxy/silica flour systems. To this end, nanocomposites containing different amounts of TiO 2 were prepared by a casting method. Thermal and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were investigated using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), thermo-gravimetrical analysis (TGA) and flexural test. Morphology of the nanocomposites i.e., dispersion and distribution of nanoparticles within the matrix was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). Based on EDX results, it was found that nanoparticles' dispersion was rather good once very low content (1 wt%) of nanoparticles was added to the system. Conversely, poor dispersion was attained in high loadings of TiO 2 due to the agglomeration of nanoparticles. SEM micrographs confirmed a brittle mode of failure for the nanocomposites by incorporation of nano TiO 2. The TGA results indicated that the thermal stability of epoxy/silica flour system in the temperature range of 300-6008C was enhanced by addition of 1 wt% TiO 2 nanoparticles while no significant improvement was observed upon further increment in the nanoparticle content. The DMTA results also exhibited that storage modulus was increased with increasing TiO 2 content, and tan d peak shifted to higher temperatures upon addition of 5% nanoparticles. The highest flexural strength was achieved by incorporation of 5 wt% of TiO 2 ; however, beyond this limit, no further enhancement was observed in mechanical properties of the system due to the poor dispersion of nano TiO 2 within the epoxy matrix.
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