The influence of functionalized TiO2 with poly(methyl methacrylate) on the mechanical properties of TiO2/Epoxy nanocomposites

The functionalized TiO2 with poly(methyl methacrylate) (TiO2-PMMA) was prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and its reinforcement for epoxy composites was studied. The functionalized TiO2 was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The properties of nanocomposites were measured by impact testing, bending experiment and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Because of the grafting of PMMA and the higher interaction between TiO2-PMMA and epoxy matrix, the composites exhibited the enhancement of mechanical properties at lower content. As the functionalized TiO2 content is 0.5 wt%, the impact strength and bending strength of composite increased nearly 142% and 37%, respectively, compared to the neat epoxy resin.