Comparative Study of Inorganic TiO2 Nanoparticles and Organic Sawdust Dispersed Epoxy Based Composites

Abstract

This work reports the synthesis and characterization of inorganic Titania (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles and formation of epoxy-based composites loaded with 1wt%, 3wt%, 5wt% and 10wt% TiO 2 nanoparticles and sawdust by weight. The TiO 2 nanoparticles were prepared using sol-gel method and characterized by SEM and XRD analysis to ensure the size and formation of nanoparticles. These composites were subjected to mechanical testing to study various properties like tensile strength, flexural strength, young's modulus, hardness on various loading percentages. In all respects, inorganic Epoxy/ TiO 2 nanocomposites showed better performance than organic sawdust/epoxy composites.