Improvement in cavitation resistance of poly (vinyl butyral) composite films with silica nanoparticles: A technical note

Abstract

In this study poly (vinyl butyral)/silica (PVB/SiO2) composite films were subjected to the cavitation process. The experiments were carried out with a 10 wt.% PVB solution in ethanol. Silica nanoparticles were added into the solution in different concentration of 1, 3 and 5 wt.% SiO2 in regard to PVB. Composite films were cast from these solutions and subjected to ultrasonic cavitation. Optical images of their surfaces were analyzed before and after cavitation, by Image-Pro Plus software. The results revealed that the PVB film with 5 wt.% SiO2 nanoparticles demonstrated the greatest improvement in microhardness with the best cavitation resistance compared to other films.