Synergistic effect of organic and inorganic nano fillers on the dielectric and mechanical properties of epoxy composites

Titanium oxide TiO₂/epoxy and TiO₂ with detonation nano-diamond (DND)/epoxy nanocomposites were prepared by using ultrasonication method. TiO₂ and DND particles as reinforcement species and epoxy as matrix were used to produce nanocomposites. The addition of DND particles into TiO₂/epoxy composite improved the dielectric and mechanical properties of nanocomposites in significant amount. The dielectric properties of TiO₂-DND/epoxy nanocomposite demonstrated increase in permittivity and conductivity after addition of the DND particles. The maximum and minimum reflection losses of TiO₂-DND/epoxy nanocomposite for 0.6 and 0.2 wt% DND loading were detected at −14.5 and −1.3 dB, respectively. The flexural and tensile strength of TiO₂-DND/epoxy nanocomposites with the addition of 0.4 wt% DNDs were enhanced to 220% and 223%, respectively. Additionally, the energy to break and percent break strain were 3.9 J and 3.86, respectively for 0.4 wt% DND loading in TiO₂-DND/epoxy nanocomposite. Therefore, the present work findings claim that DND particles are well suitable to enrich the dispersion of TiO₂ nanoparticles in epoxy matrix, which develops a strong load transfer interface between the nanoparticles and epoxy matrix and consequently leads to superior properties.