Influence of selected submicron inorganic particles on mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester/glass composites

In this paper, the influence of different submicron-scaled particles (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, or silica) on mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester matrix composites reinforced with glass fabric was investigated. Surface morphology of obtained composites was also examined. At first inorganic particles were mechanically dispersed into unsaturated polyester resin system as per the calculated weight ratio (2 or 4 wt% of polymer matrix). For prepared liquid dispersions viscosity was measured. Composites were produced by using hand lay-up method and contained 39–41 wt% of glass fibers. The flexural and dynamic mechanical analyses were carried out for each group of fabricated polyester/glass composites. All results were compared with the control samples (without submicron particles). It was found that addition of 2 wt% ZnO or TiO ₂ to unsaturated polyester resin enhanced the flexural strength and flexural modulus of composites. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed the increase of storage and loss modulus. Similar effect of submicron-scaled inorganic particles on T _g value of composites was observed. The scanning electron microscopic analysis of prepared composites showed good dispersion of submicron particles in polymer matrix and generally absence of voids was also observed.