Mechanical properties of silica nanoparticle reinforced poly(ethylene 2, 6-naphthalate)

Abstract

We added surface-modified silica nanoparticles to poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PEN) to investigate their effect on the mechanical properties on the PEN nanocomposite material. The torque and total torque values of the composites decreased in the silica nanoparticle composites. The tensile modulus of the composites reinforced with unmodified silica nanoparticles increased upon increasing the silica content, while the tensile strength and elongation decreased accordingly. In contrast, stearic acid-modified, silica nanoparticle reinforced PEN composites exhibited an increase in elongation and a decrease in tensile modulus upon addition of the silica nanoparticles because the stearic acid that had adsorbed onto the surface of the silica nanoparticle in multilayers could act as a plasticizer during melt compounding. Stearic acid modification had a small effect on the crystallization behavior of the composites. We calculated theoretical values of the tensile modulus using the Einstein, Kerner, and Nielsen equations and compared these values with the experimental data obtained from the composites. The parameters calculated using the Nielsen equation and the Nicolais Narkis model revealed that the interfacial adhesion between silica nanoparticles and the PEN matrix could be improved.

Multiscale Constitutive Modeling of Polymer Materials

“…Ahn et.al. reported that the tensile modulus of composites reinforced with unmodified silica nanoparticles improved upon increasing the silica content, however, the elongation to failure decreased [9]. A research group at Toyota developed an economic industrial process for the manufacture of polymer/clay nanocomposites.…”

Non‐isothermal crystallization behavior of PLA/acetylated cellulose nanocrystal/silica nanocomposites

“…Several studies have reported an increase in elongation at break and tensile strength when the nano‐size silica was loaded to the polymer matrix. The elongation at break and tensile strength showed a tendency to increase until the filler content reached a critical loading level . During the deformation of the plastic, small spherulites with many grain boundaries can inhibit cracks from growth by restricting the dislocation motion.…”

“…Fumed silica is made from pyrolysis of SiCl 4 and has a branched‐chain‐like aggregation structure. Studies have shown that fumed silica acts as a nucleating agent, and increases thermal stability, tensile strength and elongation at break …”

Dynamic mechanical properties of three‐component composites (acrylic polymer/epoxy/SiO2) in the glass‐transition region

“…On the other hand, the E ′ composite values of the AP/EP/SiO 2 composites scarcely increased with increasing SiO 2 content. It is worth noting that the E ′ composite values of the AP/EP/SiO 2 composites hardly changed, regardless of the content of rigid filler, although the modulus of the composites increased in an exponential manner with the content of rigid filler with far higher moduli than the polymeric material . Nielsen proposed the following equation [eq. ]…”

“…The modulus of two‐component polymer/filler composites depends on those of each component and the ϕ value of filler. The theoretical modulus of the polymer/filler composites was proposed by Neilsen and Halpin and Kardos In general, it is well‐known that the dynamics of the polymer component in a simple composite is not affected by the filler component . Therefore, many researchers have focused on the improvement of the affinity between the polymer chain and the filler.…”