Improving Mechanical Properties of Polymeric Materials Using Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

This paper investigated the effect of zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) and titanium oxide (TiO₂) on the morphology and mechanical properties of poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends. Composites of PMMA (5/95 wt%) with ZrO₂ and TiO₂ were prepared by modified sol-gel reaction and then the composites were integrated by compression. The dispersion of ZrO₂ and TiO₂ nanoparticles in the polymer matrix was investigated after deposition as thin films, using optical microscope. It was studied also the transparency and the band gap of thin films of the individual compounds and of the mixed zirconia composites. It was observed that the dispersion of ZrO₂ nanoparticles was relatively good with low ZrO₂ content, but the aggregates of ZrO₂ particles in a polymer matrix increased with increasing the ZrO₂ content. The Vickers hardness test on PMMA and ZrO₂-PMMA showed that the value of hardness increases as the percentage of ZrO₂ increases. The adding of zirconia nanoparticles showed that the composites can be used in fabrication of different application as metal protection, dental materials, abrasion resistant materials, transparent protection due to the hardness tests.