Improved dispersion and mechanical properties of hybrid nanocomposites

Dispersion of nanoparticles and its effect on the mechanical properties were investigated by fabricating nanocomposites via conventional sonication, sol–gel, and a combination of sonication and sol–gel methods. Silica nanoparticles in epoxy produced via sol–gel was procured as Nanopox F 400 to produce silica/epoxy nanocomposite whereas the conventional sonication method was followed to produce alumina/epoxy and carbon nanofibers (CNF)/epoxy nanocomposites. Then, the conventional sonication method was employed in the presence of sol–gel nanoparticles to improve the dispersion quality of conventional dry nanoparticles as well as to increase the particle loading. In the current method, the epoxy with silica nanoparticles produced by the sol–gel method was used as the starting material for sonication. In the subsequent step, particles of the second type were added to the silica/epoxy precursor via sonication. Using this method, two different types of nanoparticles were added to produce hybrid nanocomposites with higher particle loading where alumina and CNF were used as hybridizing particles. TEM micrographs revealed an improved dispersion quality of alumina nanoparticles and CNFs in the presence of very well dispersed silica nanoparticles. The improvement in dispersion was reflected in much improved mechanical properties of the nanocomposites.