Improved mechanical and wear resistance properties of silicon carbide/poly (vinyl alcohol) composites by silane coupling agents

In this work, the surface coated silicon carbide (SiC) obtained by dispersing it in silane coupling agent/ethanol solutions of different concentrations was used as a filler in poly (vinyl alcohol)(PVA) and the composites of (PVA)/SiC were prepared by melt process. The structure and properties of PVA/SiC composites were studied by Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical and wear resistance tests in detail. The silane coupling agent was hydrolyzed under acidic conditions, and as a result, large number of hydroxyl and amino groups were generated, which could form hydrogen bonds with hydroxyl groups of the PVA molecular chains, this effect subsequently improved the interactions between the filler and matrix. The surface modified SiC particles dispersed well in PVA matrix resulting a good compatibility with the matrix. For the PVA/SiC composites with the same content of SiC filler, both tensile strength and elongation at break improved with the increase of silane coupling agent concentration. In addition, a good improvement in the wear resistance of the PVA/SiC composites was also achieved compared with the neat PVA/SiC composite. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:3849–3857, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers