Abstract
The microscopic study suggested that the destruction of aluminum hydroxide filled acrylic composite proceeded inside of the particle. Therefore, the protection of the brittle particle from the cleavage was important for toughening of this system. This purpose was achieved by addition of newly prepared carboxyl terminated unsaturated polyesters having flexible segment to the composite. These polyesters contained both carboxyl and vinyl groups, therefore they were absorbed selectively by the basic surface of aluminum hydroxide and gave the elastic layer by crosslinking. In addition, these modifiers were copolymerized with the matrix acrylic resin, and hence the strong adhesion between the elastic layer and the matrix toughened the composite more effectively. Consequently, this work provided the concept for toughening of aluminum hydroxide filled acrylic composite, and proposed an efficient toughening method. The effect of these impact modifiers was detected at the fracture surface of the composite and characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and element alanalysis which were given by energy-dispersed X-raymicro-analyzer equipped with the SEM (SEM-EDX analysis).
