Abstract:
The Zr02 nano particles were synthesized in the epoxy resin by the in-situ and ex-situ growth technique for a PMC with ceramic nano particles bonded with the matrix molecules. In in-situ the presence of the bond formation was verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and XRD measurements. XRD revels that the product Zr02 particles are crystalline in nature, with only presence of m-Zr02 phase. The nano composite was further characterized by AFM for study of surface topography and DSC for thermogravimetric analysis. The actual product formation and reaction conversion was studied by traditional weight loss gravimetry, it is seen that the maximum fractional yield is obtained for 5 weight % of Zr02 sample. The particles size and distribution in the matrix was shown by FESEM graphs and confirmed the formation nano sized Zr02 particles by this reaction. Thus it is shown that this solvent based in-situ reaction has successfully grown the Zr02 nano particles in the epoxy matrix. In the same fashion the ex-situ samples were prepared by adding the nano particles externally and were characterized to differentiate the better of the two methods.
