Theoretical and Experimental Determination of Thermomechanical Properties of Epoxy-SiO2 Nanocomposites

Improvements in the thermomechanicalproperties of epoxy upon inclusion of well-dispersed SiO2nanoparticles have been demonstrated both experimentally and through molecular dynamics simulations.The SiO2was represented by two different dispersion models: dispersedindividual molecules and as spherical nanoparticles.The calculated thermodynamic and thermomechanical properties were consistent with experimental results. Radial distribution functions highlight the interactions of different parts of the polymer chains with the SiO2between 3 and 5 nminto the epoxy, depending on the particle size.Thefindingsfrombothmodels were verified against experimentalresultslike theglass transitiontemperatureand tensile elasticmechanicalproperties,and proved suitable for predicting thermomechanicaland physicochemical properties of epoxy-SiO2nanocomposites