Effects of nano-silica/nano-alumina on mechanical and physical properties of polyurethane composites and coatings

Abstract

The present approach shows the use of nano-silica / nano-alumina in polyurethane (PU) matrix, which lead to significant improvements in the mechanical and thermal properties of the nano-composite. It is observed that with incorporation of 1% of nano-alumina into the PU matrix, there is an improvement in the tensile strength of around 50%, and for nano-silica the improvement is around 41%, at the same concentration. The morphological data shows that above 3% of the nano particles there are agglomerations in the nanocomposite. Again with the absorption of moisture, there is a decrease in the thermal and mechanical properties of the PU resin, but in this research work it is observed that with the incorporation of the nano particles, in the presence of absorbed moisture there is an improvement in mechanical and thermal properties of the composite, over that of the PU matrix. Copyright © 2013 KIEEME. All rights reserved.