Abstract
Polyurethane/silica nanocomposites were innovated by sol-gel method from polyurethane and tetraethylorthosilicate under TEOS and some specified conditions. Then, the properties of the obtained polyurethane/silica nanocomposites were investigated from the viewpoints of mechanical and thermal properties. It is shown that the hardness, elasticity modulus, thermal properties and UV irradiation character depend deeply on the silica content in the nanocomposie materials. These results indicated that by changing the amount of silica we could control the material properties. Even for the silica content of 40 wt%, the fracture elongation of over 300% is obtained. The excellent ductile property of polyurethane resin is maintained in the developed materials even for high silica content. Based on TEM analysis, it is found that the size of silica in developed nanocomposites is about 5 nm.
