Effects of silane surface modified alumina nanoparticles on the mechanical, thermomechanical, and ballistic impact performances of epoxy/oxidized UHMWPE composites

Abstract

In this study, a new kind of hybrid material was prepared from various amounts of silane surface modified alumina nanoparticles, oxidized ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers, and epoxy resin. The reinforcing phases were selectively treated to achieve a fully connected network aiming an effective stress transfer between the constituents. The efficiency of the grafting mechanisms was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The developed hybrid materials were tested for their mechanical, thermomechanical, and ballistic performances. The mechanical results, namely tensile and bending, confirmed the positive effects of increasing the nanofillers amounts up to 5 wt%. The thermochemical properties analyzed by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed consequent improvements in the storage modulus and glass transition temperature upon the addition of the nanophase. In the meantime, the ballistic tests evaluated under the National Institute of Justice standard (NIJ standard-0101.06-IIA) also highlighted an improved kinetic energy absorption following the increase in the amounts of the discontinuous phase. Subsequent experimentations precisely quantified the required number of plies for an effective projectile stopping under the chosen standard. Overall, this study unraveled for the first time ever the benefits obtained from a fully connected hybrid network under both static and dynamic loads.

Toward an efficient stress transfer with a fully connected hybrid network from epoxy, oxidized UHMWPE fibers, and silane surface modified silicon carbide nanoparticles

“…The tan delta peak has also been extended which is a direct result of the loading of the reinforcing nanophase, this is known as the relaxation process. [ 35 ] Moreover, the incorporation of the nanofillers also produced the reducing of the Tan Delta peak height, this is also known as the dilution phenomena. [ 36 ]…”

Effect of Fibre Surface Treatment and Nanofiller Addition on the Mechanical Properties of Flax/PLA Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Hybrid Nanocomposite

“…Flexural stressstrain curves demonstrate that as the nanofiller concentration increases from 1% to 4%, the strain percentage decreases gradually, which indicates that the ductility of the composite decreases. This is associated with less chain mobility and deformability of the matrix due to the presence of additional rigid nanofillers, which disturb the deformation of the crystalline region in the matrix, resulting in improved bending properties [13,62]. Additionally, it is noted that none of the samples failed abruptly, but exhibited pseudo-plastic behaviour before reaching the ultimate flexural stress value.…”

High‐performance fiber‐reinforced composites with a polydopamine/epoxy silane hydrolysis‐condensate bilayer on surface of ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene fiber

“…Nano-SiO 2 was dried in a vacuum at 105 C for 6 h to remove the adsorbed moisture. The dried nano-SiO 2 was placed in 3-triethoxysilylpropylamine (5 wt% of nano-SiO 2 ) ethanol solution, mechanically stirred for 24 h. The activated SiO 2 was rinsed with ethanol solution three times to remove the surface silane coupling agent, and dried in an oven at 60 C for 12 h. 37…”