An experimental investigation of the effects of nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of epoxy coating

Epoxy resin is one of the most common polymer matrixes due to its wide range of applications in various industries such as adhesives, coatings, composite materials and construction. In the current study epoxy has been considered for improving its properties using reinforcing Nano fillers. The incorporation of relatively low percentages of nanoparticles in epoxy coating system, bring dramatic improvements in mechanical properties, thermal stability and adhesion of epoxy resin. The main focus of the study is to investigate the effect of inorganic nanoparticles on mechanical and morphological properties of epoxy/Polyamid coating system, and compare the obtained results with that of unreinforced coating. The nanocomposite coatings are formulated by incorporation of various types of nanoparticles (ZrO2, ZnO, SiO2, and Fe2O3) with 2 wt% loading for each type of nanostructure. The results revealed that the incorporation of such a small amount of these nanoparticles brings significant changes to mechanical properties, with SiO2 demonstrated superior mechanical properties. The hardness and elastic modulus increased 71% and 26% respectively by addition of 2 wt% SiO2 in epoxy matrix. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.