Improving the tensile, toughness, and flexural properties of epoxy resin based nanocomposites filled with ZrO2 and Y2O3 nanoparticles

The current work is directed to improve the tensile, toughness, and bending properties of epoxy resin (EPR) based nanocomposites (NCs) by using zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) and yttrium oxide (Y2O3) nanoparticles (NPs). The EPR was mixed with differing concentrations of ZrO2 and Y2O3 NPs, and triethylenetetramine was applied as crosslinking agents. The formation of NCs and the NPs dispersion inside the EPR matrix was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The effect of NPs concentration on the mechanical behavior of host EPR was illustrated by conducting tensile and bending tests. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, breaking elongation, Young's modulus, and toughness were studied through the tensile test; in addition, a three-point bending flexural test was employed to investigate the flexural strength, flexural strain at break, and flexural modulus of the fabricated NCs. The results showed that the EPR NC samples at low NPs content exhibit considerably high mechanical performance compared to pure EPR. It was found the EPR NC sample with 1 wt% of ZrO2 NPs shows the highest Young's and bending modulus, as well as the toughness. However, the highest performance of EPR doped Y2O3 NPs was achieved by adding 1.5 wt% of dopant. The improvement in toughness by 23.4 % for ZrO2 and 19.6 % for Y2O3, was attributable to the large increase in tensile strength as a result of good interaction between the EPR and NPs, as the elongation at break was not significantly affected by adding NPs.

Automated summary

The current work aims to improve the mechanical properties of epoxy resin-based nanocomposites by incorporating zirconium dioxide and yttrium oxide nanoparticles. The addition of nanoparticles enhances the tensile strength and toughness of the nanocomposites. The optimal doping concentration results in the highest toughness. Overall, the mechanical performance of the nanocomposites is significantly improved compared to pure epoxy resin.