Effect of graphene size on the mechanical and damping properties of polyether amine modified r-GO and ZnO multi-nanoparticles filled epoxy

To prepare structural damping epoxy nanocomposites, three kinds of organic–inorganic hybrids containing r-GO@ZnO nanoparticles with different graphene sizes and polyether amine were synthesized. The mechanical and damping properties of the epoxy nanocomposites containing 2 wt% of the hybrids were investigated. It is found that the filler size has a significant effect on the mechanical and damping properties of nanocomposites. The nanocomposite containing the smallest size hybrid had the highest bending strength and impact strength, which improved by 3.9 % and 59.7 % respectively. The nanocomposite containing the biggest size hybrid had the highest bending modulus, which improved by 28.8 %. The medium size hybrid had little effect on the mechanical properties of nanocomposite, it is more effective in improving the damping properties, and the loss factor of nanocomposite is increased by at least 38.4% at the glass stage.