Effect of the Interphase and Agglomeration on the Tensile Properties of Epoxy/Alumina Nanocomposites

Tensile properties of the epoxy nanocomposites is very much dependent on the interphase properties and agglomeration of nanoparticles. To analyze the interphase and agglomeration effect, epoxy/alumina nanocomposites were prepared with different content of alumina nanoparticles and its Young's modulus were analyzed using proposed theoretical model and adopting lognormal distribution characteristics. Agglomeration was more dominant at higher content of nanofiller. Agglomeration and effective Young's modulus decreased with the increment in the agglomerate size and their lognormal distribution curve's peak shifted to higher value for higher wt% of alumina nanofiller.