Preparation and Characterisation of Epoxy Composites Filled with Silica Nanoparticles

Abstract

A series of epoxy/SiO2 composites, containing 0.5, 1, 3, 5, and 7 wt.% SiO2 nanoparticles, were prepared by solution blending. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that the glass transition temperatures (Tg) of the composites were higher than that of the pure epoxy and rose as the SiO2 content increased. The decomposition temperatures (Td) of the composites were always higher than that of the pure epoxy, the maximum increase of 20.8 °C being achieved with the addition of 5 wt.% SiO2. The light transmittance of the composites was still higher than 80% with up to 7 wt.% SiO2. The water permeability of the composites decreased with increasing SiO2 content, and the 7 wt.% SiO2 produced a composite with the maximum permeability decrease of 56.3%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that finer silica was dispersed in the epoxy matrix without large agglomerates.

Investigation of physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of glass fiber reinforced polymer composites strengthened with KH550 and KH570 silane-coated silicon dioxide nanoparticles

“…The T g value of pure epoxy matrix was reported 62.9°C in ref. 58. Figure 16 illustrates the DSC results of the pure and silanized SiO 2 filled nanocomposite laminates.…”

“…57 The second is the temperature range, where major weight loss is carried out based on polymer decomposition. 58 The temperature value of T 5% was obtained 343°C for pure GFRP composite. KH550 silane coated SiO 2 filled GFRP nanocomposites resulted in 351.12°C and 350.50°C for 1.5 wt.% and 3 wt.% particle additions, respectively.…”

Preparation of Heat-Resistant Epoxy/Silica Hybrids through a Novel Sol-Gel Process

“…The development of nanotechnology has prompted the utilization of inorganic nanoparticles such as Al 2 O 3 5 , montmorillonite 6 and SiO 2 [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] to improve the thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy resin. Particularly, attention has been paid to the improvement of the interfacial adhesion between the inorganic fillers and polymer matrix and the dispersion of nano-fillers in the epoxy resin [7][8][9][10][11][12] .…”