Abstract
Organic-inorganic hybrids containing various amounts of silica were synthesized from epoxy resin and several silanealkoxides by utilizing a sol-gel process. The obtained epoxy/silica hybrids were studied with regard to phase structure and thermal and mechanical properties. In the hybrids with γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation revealed that fine silica particles about 10 nm in size are uniformly dispersed throughout the epoxy matrix. The storage modulus in the rubbery region increased and the peak area of the tanδ curve at glass transition region decreased with the hybrization of small amounts of silica. This may result from the suppression of epoxy network moiety due to the incorporation of silica network. Thermal stability was remarkably improved and toughness of hybrids was slightly decreased by the hybrization with small amounts of silica.
