Studies on mechanical properties of epoxy composites filled with the grafted particles PGMA/Al2O3

In the present work, the epoxy resin composites filled with the particulates of PGMA/Al2O3 which were prepared by grafting poly-glycidyl methacrylate (PGMA) onto the Al2O3, were obtained by incorporating and curing the resin containing the particulates. The mechanical properties of the resulting resin composites epoxy/PGMA/Al2O3 were evaluated and compared with epoxy/Al2O3. The morphologies of the fracture surfaces of the filled epoxy resin composites were analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that after grafting polymers onto Al2O3 particles, the interfacial combination of epoxy resin with PGMA/Al2O3 can be significantly increased due to the higher bonding strength and bonding modulus between them, therefore, the properties of the composites are improved largely. And the higher grafting degree of PGMA, the greater the impact strength and yield strength of the resin composites are, which primarily depends on the structure-properties relationship of the composites. In addition, the additive amount of PGMA/Al2O3 particles and the curing agents are also important factors that influence the properties of composites. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved