The impact of CaTiO 3 -Ca 2 SiO 4 nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of an epoxy/polyvinyl acetate nanocomposite reinforced with carbon fibers

Abstract

Abstract In this study, CaTiO3-Ca2SiO4 (CT-CS) nanoparticles were synthesized via the sol-gel method. The nanocomposite was fabricated by the ultrasonic method with the addition of CT-CS nanoparticles, polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), and carbon fiber (CF) to the initial epoxy matrix. Response surface methodology-central composite design (RSM/CCD) was used to assess the impact of the weight percentage of the aforementioned ingredients on the mechanical behavior of epoxy resin. The chemical structure and morphologies of CT-CS nanoparticles and EP/PVAc/CT-CS/CF nanocomposites were assessed using FT-IR, SEM, TGA, and XRD studies. A tensile test was employed to assess mechanical properties, such as yield (MPa), area (J), modulus (MPa), stress (MPa), and strain (%). In light of this, the data gathered showed that the addition of additives had a notable impact on stress and tensile parameters in contrast to strain and area. Compared with CT-CS nanoparticles and PVAc, CF had a stronger effect in improving the mechanical properties of epoxy resin. The optimization results indicated a significant increase in stress (236.7 and 188.9%) compared to pure EP and EP/PVAc, whereas strain and area showed a slight decrease. A good synergistic effect that increases the overall stress in epoxy resin is produced by these three working well together.