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Rupture of nanoparticle agglomerates and formulation of Al 2 O 3 ‐epoxy nanocomposites using ultrasonic cavitation approach: Effects on the structural and mechanical properties
Author(s) -
West Richard D.,
Malhotra Vivak M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.20513
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocomposite , agglomerate , cavitation , polymer , ultrasonic sensor , composite material , nanoparticle , epoxy , dispersion (optics) , polymer nanocomposite , elastic modulus , phase (matter) , nanotechnology , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , acoustics , optics , mechanics
Currently, intense research is underway to develop polymer nanocomposites because of their numerous potential applications. However, the uniform dispersion of inorganic nanoparticles in polymer nanocomposites without an additional chemical phase has proved to be a difficult challenge. In this paper, we present our results that ultrasonic cavitation could be an effective tool to disrupt agglomerates, thus forming well‐dispersed inorganic phase polymer nanocomposites. This is especially true if polymer degradation could be minimized during ultrasonic processing. Our results suggest that better dispersion of nanoparticles achieved via ultrasonic cavitation not only improved the elastic modulus of the polymer nanocomposites but also enhanced the stress at 5% strain values. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 46:426–430, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers.