MECHANICAL AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF NANO-AL₂O₃/NYLON 6 COMPOSITES

Abstract

Nano-Al₂O₃-reinforced monomer casting nylon (NA/MCN) composites were prepared by using in situ polymerization. The average molecular weight of the matrix nylon was measured using gel permeation chromatography. The thermal-mechanical properties of the NA/MCN composites were characterized by thermo-dynamic mechanical analysis, and the results were compared with micro-Al₂O₃-reinforced nylon (MA/MCN) composites. A tensile property test was conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of neat nylon and composites. Experimental results showed that the average molecular weight of the matrix nylon filled with nano-alumina had little change and was higher than that with micro-alumina. The glass transition temperature (T_g) and storage moduli of NA/MCN composites were higher than that of neat nylon. During the experiment, it was also found that the tensile strength increased up to 52% when 3 wt.% of nano-Al₂O₃ particles were added. The thermal and tensile properties of NA/MCN composites were better than those of the MA/MCN composites when the same weight percentage of Al₂O₃ particles was used.

Keywords:

• Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis
• Mechanical properties
• Nanocomposites
• Thermal properties

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of Hebei Education Department National Science Foundation through grant no.: Z2003103 and Li-rong Zhu from Nankai University for carrying out the DMA analysis.