Effect of holmium oxide nanoparticle on the mechanical properties of epoxy resin composites

Abstract

In this study, holmium oxide/epoxy resin (Ho2O3/EP) nanocomposites were prepared by using different additions of Ho2O3 nanoparticles as nanofiller. The surface-modification treatment of Ho2O3 was applied with a silane coupling agent (SCA) to improve the interfacial combination between Ho2O3 and EP. The effect of SCA treatment on the chemical structure of Ho2O3 was investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The effects of Ho2O3 nanoparticle and SCA treatment on the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were studied. The fracture morphology of the EP nanocomposites was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to explore the failure mechanism of the EP nanocomposites with Ho2O3 nanoparticle. The experimental results show the tensile and flexural strengths of the nanocomposites are improved when Ho2O3 content is 1 wt. %. The tensile and flexural strengths were increased to 73.42 MPa and 130.85 MPa, respectively. But on further increase in Ho2O3 content of 1.5 wt. %, the tensile and flexural strengths were reduced. The SCA treatment could increase the interfacial bonding by containing C-H and Si-O functional groups, promoting the tensile properties, flexural properties, impact toughness, and fracture properties of the nanocomposites.