The Synergistic Effects of Hybrid Micro and Nano Silica in Influencing the Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Composites—A New Model

Abstract

Micro silica and nano silica are found to yield similar effects in influencing the values of Young’s modulus. The values of Young’s modulus of hybrid silica particle are higher than single filler, at the same weight loading. The highest improvement in Young’s Modulus was recorded 25 wt.% hybrid loading (12.5 wt.% micro silica + 12.5 wt.% nano silica). 1.1 weight percentage is applied for the hybrid composite, which makes equal distribution of weight for nano and micro. Highlights: Epoxy nano composites containing micro and nano silica were prepared by varying the filler’s weight loading as an attempt to investigate the effects of incorporating these fillers in influencing its mechanical properties. Mechanical properties characterizations include the evaluation of tensile. The mechanical properties of the epoxy composites were found to tremendously increase as both micro and nano silica were added together at a 1:1 wt.% ratio. For example, the highest values of Young’s modulus were recorded to be 5.39 GPa for 25 wt.% loading (12.5 wt.% Micro + 12.5 wt.% nano), while Young’s modulus values of 5.22 MPa and 5.32 MPa were recorded for micro and nano silica, respectively, at the same weight loading. The most outstanding results were observed at 25 wt.% hybrids (12.5 wt.% micro silica + 12.5 wt.% nano silica), where the values of Young’s modulus were increased by 228% compared to the neat epoxy. This study successfully demonstrated synergistic effects demonstrated by combining micro and nano silica fillers, which created an interaction that significantly enhanced the Young’s modulus of epoxy composites.