Synergistic effect of organic and inorganic nano fillers on the dielectric and mechanical properties of epoxy composites

Titanium oxide TiO2/epoxy and TiO2 with detonation nano-diamond (DND)/epoxy nanocomposites were prepared by using ultrasonication method. TiO2 and DND particles as reinforcement species and epoxy as matrix were used to produce nanocomposites. The addition of DND particles into TiO2/epoxy composite improved the dielectric and mechanical properties of nanocomposites in significant amount. The dielectric properties of TiO2-DND/epoxy nanocomposite demonstrated increase in permittivity and conductivity after addition of the DND particles. The maximum and minimum reflection losses of TiO2-DND/epoxy nanocomposite for 0.6 and 0.2 wt% DND loading were detected at -14.5 and -1.3 dB, respectively. The flexural and tensile strength of TiO2-DND/epoxy nanocomposites with the addition of 0.4 wt% DNDs were enhanced to 220% and 223%, respectively. Additionally, the energy to break and percent break strain were 3.9 J and 3.86, respectively for 0.4 wt% DND loading in TiO2-DND/epoxy nanocomposite. Therefore, the present work findings claim that DND particles are well suitable to enrich the dispersion of TiO2 nanoparticles in epoxy matrix, which develops a strong load transfer interface between the nanoparticles and epoxy matrix and consequently leads to superior properties. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.