Epoxy/Polyethylene Glycol/TiO2: Design, Fabrication and Investigation of Mechanical Properties, Thermal Cycling Fatigue and Antibacterial Activity

In this study, the reinforcing effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and TiO2 nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of epoxy were investigated. The relationship between independent variables and mechanical properties were optimized by using responsive surface methodology (RSM) combined with central composite design (CCD) models. According to the results obtained from the CCD compared to neat epoxy, elongation and tensile strength of optimal sample were increased by 70.25% and 65.96%, respectively. The mechanical properties of nanocomposites were studied after exposure to the thermal cycling application (0 to 80 degrees C for 150 times). The results of thermal cycling tests depicted that the nanocomposites have a good mechanical stability under termal cycling tests. The epoxy/PEG/TiO2 nanocomposites were characterized using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and cross-section SEM images. TGA analysis was exposed that TiO2 nanoparticles could be enhanced the thermal property of the epoxy. Also, Ag-TiO2 nanostructures were synthesized by photo-deposition method and epoxy/PEG/(Ag-TiO2) were designed for enhanced antibacterial activity of nanocomposite against E. coli. The SEM images and XRD analyses were displayed the TiO2 and Ag-TiO2 nanoparticles were purely synthesized. On the other hand, the EDS mapping analysis of Ag-TiO2 nanoparticles confirmed that the Ag, Ti and oxygen were homogeneously distributed in samples. [GRAPHICS] .