Investigating ultrasonic dispersion of nanostructured silica for nanocomposite materials application

Abstract

This article presented the results of investigating the influence of ultrasonic dispersion of nanostructured silica that has been referred to nanosilica (n-SiO2) into unsaturated polyester (UPE) resin for nanocomposite materials application. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) method was employed to analyze the dispersion characteristics in this work. The optimally suitable ultrasonic factors have been identified including ultrasound frequency amplitude of 60%, ultrasound time of 120 minutes. Also, the bending strength measurement results of nanocomposite samples have shown that nanosilica material addition has increased significantly the mechanical properties of the nanocomposite material based on UPE resin. This also has shown the possibility of using n-SiO2 as a reinforcing agent for nanocomposite materials applications.

Keywords

• nanosilica (n-sio2)
• unsaturated polyester (upe) resin
• nanocomposite materials
• ultrasonic frequency
• ultrasonic frequency amplitude