Effect of holmium oxide nanoparticle on the mechanical properties of epoxy resin composites

In this study, holmium oxide/epoxy resin (Ho 2 O 3 /EP) nanocomposites were prepared by using different additions of Ho 2 O 3 nanoparticles as nanofiller. The surface-modification treatment of Ho 2 O 3 was applied with a silane coupling agent (SCA) to improve the interfacial combination between Ho 2 O 3 and EP. The effect of SCA treatment on the chemical structure of Ho 2 O 3 was investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The effects of Ho 2 O 3 nanoparticle and SCA treatment on the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were studied. The fracture morphology of the EP nanocomposites was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to explore the failure mechanism of the EP nanocomposites with Ho 2 O 3 nanoparticle. The experimental results show the tensile and flexural strengths of the nanocomposites are improved when Ho 2 O 3 content is 1 wt. %. The tensile and flexural strengths were increased to 73.42 MPa and 130.85 MPa, respectively. But on further increase in Ho 2 O 3 content of 1.5 wt. %, the tensile and flexural strengths were reduced. The SCA treatment could increase the interfacial bonding by containing C-H and Si-O functional groups, promoting the tensile properties, flexural properties, impact toughness, and fracture properties of the nanocomposites.