Mechanical properties of acrylate matrix composite reinforced with manganese-aluminum layered double hydroxide

Abstract

Acrylate polymers are used in several applications such as dentistry, medicine, and industry. The modification of their properties using the reinforcement is of key importance for the possible applications. Layered double hydroxides are materials that are easily synthesized by several techniques giving the possibility to modulate the chemical composition and morphology of the reinforcement and they consist of a divalent and a trivalent anion hydroxide and the layers can be exfoliated and thus provide a material interesting for composite reinforcement. In this paper, Mn was used as a divalent and Al as a trivalent cation. The obtained particles were used as reinforcement for the preparation of composites in 1, 3, and 5 wt% quantities and prepared samples were compared to the matrix consisting of PMMA. Physical mechanical properties of the sample having the best mechanical properties (with 3 wt% of MnAl-LDH filers) exhibited 6.38% modulus of elasticity, 27% hardness, and 10% tensile strength improved values compared to the clear PMMA matrix. Toughness was lowered in this sort of composite compared to the pure matrix. Highlights: MnAl-LDH-PMMA composites improved modulus, strength, hardness Loss of toughness is tolerable for 3 wt% reinforcement Viscoelastic properties are improved for composites compared to matrix.