Mechanical and dynamic-mechanical behavior and morphology of polystyrene/perovskite composites: Effects of filler size

Composites based on a commercial grade polystyrene (PS) resin containing non commercial perovskite particles were prepared by melt mixing and analyzed in terms of mechanical properties, dynamic-mechanical behavior and morphology. In particular, with the aim to study the influence of the filler size on the ultimate properties of PS based composites micro- and nano-sized perovskite La0.5Sr0.5MnO3 crystal particles, synthesized by using an efficient and rapid microwave-assisted hydrothermal route, were considered. ements of flexural parameters such as modulus and strength by static tests and storage modulus and damping factor by dynamic-mechanical evaluations showed better performance for nanofilled systems with respect to the ones containing micro particles, with the same filler content. ical evidences were explained also by morphological observations from which a different level of filler dispersion seems to be obtained with the organization of perovskite nanosized crystals in superstructures able to support viscoelastic results.