Preparation of TiO₂ and SiO₂ Nanoparticles and their Effect on Epoxy Resin Nanocomposites

Abstract

Background: Polymer matrix based composites are the workhorse of the composite industries. Besides, the idea of modifying the polymer matrix by various inorganic fillers have greatly drawn attention of materials engineers due to their diversified applications and advanced properties. Objective: The objective of this work is to prepare, and characterize Titania (TiO2) and Silica (SiO2) nanoparticles and develop 1wt%, 3wt%, 5wt% and 10wt% TiO2 and SiO2 incorporated epoxy based nanocomposites. Method: The TiO2 nanoparticles are prepared by most famous and conventional sol-gel method and SiO2 nanoparticles are extracted from Padma river (silica) sand obtained from Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. Results: The XRD patterns and SEM image ensures the formation of TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles. The mechanical properties and Mechanical properties like tensile strength, flexural strength, young modulus and Rockwell hardness of the nanocomposites are also determined using universal testing machine (UTM) and Digital Shore durometer respectively. The tests reveal that addition of nanoparticles have increased hardness and young modulus of the nanocomposites decreasing the tensile and flexural strength than that of neat epoxy. Conclusion: The TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles have synthesized successfully. The preliminary experiments predict that addition of nanoparticles (TiO2, SiO2) converts the composite from ductile to brittle material.

Investigation of Dynamic Mechanical Behavior of Nanosilica Filled Carbon-Kevlar-Epoxy Polymer Hybrid Nanocomposite

“…Hybrid Polymer nanocomposites have received very much attention from nanoscience academics and industries due to their great physical, mechanical, and tribological properties. The addition of nano-sized inorganic fillers such as silica, titania, aluminium oxide, multiwall carbon nanotube, halloysite, nanoclay has reformed the mechanical and physical properties of the hybrid polymer composites extensively [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”