Ultrasonic dual mode mixing and its effect on tensile properties of SiO₂-epoxy nanocomposite

Dispersion of nanoparticles and its effect on the tensile properties were investigated by preparing nanocomposites via mechanical mixing (MM) and optimized ultrasonic dual mode mixing (UDMM) routes. The MM of SiO2 nanoparticles in epoxy resin was employed using glass rod stirring and the UDMM was employed by ultrasonic vibration along with magnetic stirring to produce SiO2-epoxy nanocomposite. Taguchi method was used for optimization of the process parameters of UDMM route considering the tensile strength of the base epoxy. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) micrographs revealed an improved dispersion quality of SiO2 nanoparticles especially for the UDMM route. Consequently, quality of dispersion affects tensile strength (max 49.2%) along with ductility and absorbed failure energy at low nanoparticle content. Moreover, elastic modulus increases with increasing content of nanoparticle, e.g. in one case 62.55% for 20 wt.% of SiO2 nanoparticles.