Morphological dissimilarities of ZnO nanoparticles and its effect on thermo‐physical behavior of epoxy composites

The work demonstrated the effect of ZnO nanoparticles with varied morphology on the thermal stability of epoxy composites. Optimization of three key parameters such as the molar ratio of ZnSO ₄ /NaOH, reaction time, and calcination temperature was performed using Taguchi design method. The ZnO nanostructures of three categories such as nanoplatelets (PZs), nanospheres (SZs), and nanoplatelets/nanorods (CZs) were successfully grown by controlled process parameters. Field emission electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, and X‐ray diffraction were used to determine the size, morphology, and crystallite size of ZnO nanostructures. The effect ZnO nanoparticle morphology on thermal properties of epoxy composites was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. The TGA analysis demonstrated the significant effect of PZs on the enhancement of thermal stability of epoxy composites. This work, thus, exposed the ability of PZs for its symptomatic espousal as reinforcement in polymer to improve thermo‐physical behavior. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:135–145, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers