Synergistic Effect of Micro and Nano Fillers on Mechanical and Thermal Behavior of Glass-Basalt Hybrid Nano Composites: Synergistic Effect of Fillers

Introduction

Hybrid polymer composites are the superior class of materials in the view of present design engineers because of their multifunctional performance. It has been observed from the research bench that the percentage failure of homopolymer is increasing because of their failure to satisfy the demands arising from both mechanical and tribological situations (Chung, 2000). Further, it has been observed that the polymer composites are attracting in all fields of engineering because of their light weight and self-lubrication properties (Agarwal and Broutman, 1990). To increase the demand in using polymer composites, they have to be design in such way that they can support any mechanical and tribological load simultaneously. This could be possible only by modifying the homopolymer. Polymers can be modified by polymer blending, copolymerization and reinforcing fillers and/ fibers in to them. The polymer blending is used as the effective method for the polymer modification because of good performance of polymer blends compared to component polymer (Tong et al., 2002). Further, it was proved that the inclusion effect of fiber and or fillers improved the mechanical behavior of polymer composites. But the effects of micro fillers have played the major role in improving the behavior of polymer composites. The problem of wear, fatigue and fracture is common in present day applications. But recent development of fiber filled composites suggest that the hybrid effect of fibers is most effective in preventing the aforesaid factors. Further, the thermal effect is also one of the major hindrances in polymer composites. But the synergism between fillers and fibers significantly enhanced the strength and wear behavior of composites. Further, it is observed from micro composites analysis that the geometry of fillers could also effectively reinforce the composites. Some of the nano fillers such as titanium dioxide (TiO₂), clay, Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS₂), silicon carbide (SiC), Alumina were used as potential fillers for the development of nano polymer composites to improve their mechanical behavior (Jang, 1994). Many researchers have contributed to the research society through their work using fibers, fillers and using blend concept. The combined effect of short carbon fibers, graphite and nano particles on the mechanical behavior of polyimide composites has been reported (Wang et al., 2010). It is observed that the reinforcement effect of fibers enhanced the strength of composites. But the combined effect of both micro and nano fillers impaired the strength of carbon fiber reinforced polyimide composites. The effect of nano graphene on thermal and mechanical properties of short glass fiber reinforced Polyamide 6 composites has been investigated (Pan et al., 2014). The inclusion of nano graphene improved the strength of composites. The tensile strength of 52 MPa, flexural strength of 66 MPa and impact strength of 15 kJ/m² is obtained for 1 wt. % of nano graphene in composites. Further increase in nano particles content in composites deteriorated the strength of hybrid composites. The effect of mica filler on mechanical behavior of short glass fiber reinforced PA6 composites is a study for good material system (Unal and Mimoroglu, 2012). The results showed that the combined effect of both mica filler and glass fiber enhanced the strength of PA6 composites. But the strength of composites showed negative effect on percentage increase of mica filler. The study has been carried out on the mechanical behavior of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) filled PBO fiber reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites (Zhang and Hu, 2015). The combined effect of both SiO₂ and PBO fibers enhanced the strength of composites with increase in SiO₂ filler. The synergistic effect of ZrO₂ nano filler with short carbon fibers on mechanical behavior of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) composites has been reported (Chunzheng and Xuezhen, 2014). They showed that the inclusion of nano filler into fiber filled composites improved the mechanical strength of composites. The nano ZrO₂ filler impaired the stress concentration and controlled the failure of carbon fibers thereby increasing the strength of composites. The effect of different sized nano fillers such as carbon, silicon carbide and silicon dioxide on the tensile behavior of Pitch and Pan based carbon fibers reinforced Polyamide 6 composites have been studied and reported (Naito, 2013). The effect of nano fillers played the appreciable role in defining the strength of composites. The effect of nano tube filled basalt fiber reinforced polyamide 6 composites has been studied for mechanical behavior (meszaros et al., 2011). The results showed that the combined effect of nano tube and basalt fiber filled composites exhibits the better mechanical properties. The effect of nano CaCO₃ on impact and flexural behavior of SGF reinforced polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) composites have been studied for impact and flexural properties by (Liang et al., 2009). They showed that the nano filler CaCO₃ addition enhanced the strength of fiber filled composites. Further, the effect of the same on the mechanical behavior of SGF reinforced PPS/PC (Polycarbonate) composites have been reported (Liang et al., 2008). It has been observed that the addition of nano filler effectively improved the strength of composites. This promising trend has been allowed by composites for 6 wt. % of CaCO₃. The effect of nano carbon tubes on mechanical properties of short fibers reinforced Polypropylene has been reported (Rahmanian et al., 2013). SCF and SGF were the potential fibers used for the study. They reported that the effect of nano fillers enhanced the strength of fiber filled composites. The effect of nano clay on mechanical behavior of PA6/PP composites is reported (Motamedi and Bagheri, 2010). The elastic modulus and strength of composites has been improved effectively.