Effect of nanoparticle volume and surface characteristics on the bulk properties of epoxy nanocomposite

Abstract

Interphases in polymer nanocomposites play an important role. Understanding them is the key to developing efficiently designed nanocomposites with tailored properties. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of nanoparticle volume and the effect of interphase between the core and shell on the dielectric properties, to further understand the characteristics of the surface between the nanoparticle and polymer. For this purpose, five types of nanoparticles were synthesized SiO₂/SiO₂, TiO₂/SiO₂, TiO₂, SiO₂ and hollow silica (h - SiO₂) and epoxy nanocomposite samples were prepared. To confirm the successful synthesis of nanoparticles, FTIR spectra and TEM images are presented. Further, these samples were characterized by dielectric spectroscopy (0.1 Hz to 1 MHz). Coreshell nanocomposites showed significantly lower permittivity than composites with conventional, with h-SiO₂ having the lowest permittivity. A typical ß relaxation is also observed and its correlation to the degree of crosslinking is discussed. For h-SiO₂ , an additional relaxation peak at lower frequencies is observed. The origin of this peak is postulated to be either absorbed water or a - relaxation.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Sunny Chaudhary: orcid.org/0000-0003-2664-7083

ORCID for Thomas Andritsch: orcid.org/0000-0002-3462-022X

ORCID for Alun S. Vaughan: orcid.org/0000-0002-0535-513X

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