Mechanical properties of polycarbonate-TiO2 nanocomposite film

Abstract

The mechanical properties of polycarbonate-TiO₂ nanocomposite films have been investigated by conducting tensile tests and hardness measurements. The elastic modulus of the composite increased with increasing the weight fraction of particle, especially over 0.8 wt%. The X-ray diffraction results (XRD) show that the increase of strength is accompanied by decrease in intensity of amorphous polycarbonate and appearance of the peak of anatase. The theoretical models proposed by Guths-Smallwood, Einstein, Kerner and Cohen-Ishai are used but only the first model provided better results and is modified for the studied composite. The law of mixture is used to calculate the contribution coefficients of the constituents and the results of this modeling provided the acceptable precision. Peak stress and strain has been increased with increasing TiO₂ nanoparticles content while the stress and strain corresponding to the fracture point did in opposite. It is attributed to the influence of particles on the plastic weakening of the composite.