Mechanical properties of interface‐free polyacrylate‐silica hybrid sol–gel materials for potential dental applications

The mechanical properties of polyacrylate‐silica hybrid sol‐gel materials have been investigated in comparison with conventional resin composites. The hybrid materials with a wide range of silica content were synthesized via the sol–gel reactions of the silica precursor tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) with acrylate copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with 3‐(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MSMA). In these materials, the polymer chains are uniformly distributed in and covalently bonded to the inorganic silica host matrix at the molecular level without macroscopic organic–inorganic phase separation. The hybrid materials are transparent and non‐porous. In the standard compression test, the hybrid materials exhibited strain hardening behavior which was absent in the conventional PMMA‐silica composites. Their mechanical properties can be fine‐tuned by varying the polyacrylate‐silica composition in the synthesis and are superior over conventional composites at similar silica contents. These hybrid materials are promising for potential dental applications.