Synergistic effect of ZnO and TiO₂ nanoparticles on the thermal stability and mechanical properties of glass fiber-reinforced LY556 epoxy composites

The article discusses the fabrication, mechanical characterization, and heat resistance of nano ZnO-TiO₂-filled glass fiber-reinforced LY556 epoxy composites, with focus on the synergistic effect of ZnO and TiO₂ nanofillers. The fabrication of the composite laminates is achieved by the addition of the nanofillers in different wt% ranging from 1 to 5 wt%. The composites are prepared using simple hand layup technique followed by curing under vacuum. The 3D atomic force microscopy scans indicated even distribution of the nanofillers up to 2 wt% loading. Severe agglomeration of the nanofillers is evident for 3 to 5 wt% loading. The surface roughness, microhardness, flexural strength, tensile strength, and impact strength of the composites indicate a relationship with dispersion, wt% loading, and the wettability of the nanofiller with the LY556. In general, it is found that the incorporation of hard nanofillers favored the improvement of impact strength to a greater extent compared to tensile and flexural strengths. Detailed analysis of the obtained mechanical property values favors an optimum 2 wt% incorporation of the selected nanofillers to obtain improvement in various strength values of the fabricated composites. The thermal stability of the fabricated composites improved through the incorporation of ceramic nanofillers.