Effect of nanofillers dispersion on mechanical properties of clay/epoxy and silica/epoxy nanocomposites

Abstract

A homogeneous dispersion of nanofillers in epoxy polymer still remains as one of the biggest challenges in advanced nanocomposites research. In this paper, the effects of nanoclay content (1wt%, 3wt%, 5wt%) and nanosilica content (5wt%, 13wt%, 25wt%) on tensile and compressive properties of epoxy polymer were studied. The nanoclay and nanosilica were dispersed in epoxy using the three-roll milling and mechanical stirrer machine, respectively. The compressive and tensile properties were evaluated using Instron universal tester machine according to BS standards. The Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to evaluate the degree of dispersion of nanofillers in epoxy. The results showed that the intercalated structure of clay/epoxy nanocomposites gave detrimental effect on the tensile and compressive strength of the polymer. Whereas, the results of nanosilica/epoxy nanocomposite system showed that a well-dispersed nanosilica contributes to the improvement of tensile and compressive strength and Young’s modulus of the polymer.