The application of silica in resin materials

Resin-based composite materials possess characteristics such as light weight, high strength and corrosion resistance, providing a new approach for the modification of traditional resin-based materials. As long as silica particles can be fully and uniformly dispersed in the resin materials, the purpose of improving the performance of resin-based materials can be completely achieved.
1. Enhance strength and elongation. Epoxy resin is a fundamental resin material. When silicon dioxide is added to epoxy resin, its structure is completely different from that of epoxy resin-based composites with coarse-grained silicon dioxide (such as silica) added. Coarse-grained SiO2 is generally added as a reinforcing agent and is mainly distributed between the chains of polymer materials. Silica, due to its severe surface coordination insufficiency, large specific surface area and surface oxygen deficiency, exhibits strong activity and can easily form bonds with the oxygen of epoxy cyclic molecules, enhancing the intermolecular bond force. Meanwhile, some silica particles are still distributed in the voids of the polymer chains. Compared with coarse-grained SiO2 particles, It shows a very high fluidity, thereby significantly enhancing the strength, toughness and ductility of the epoxy resin material with silica added.
2. Enhance wear resistance and improve the smoothness of the material surface. Silica particles are 100 to 1,000 times smaller than SiO2. Adding them to epoxy resin is beneficial for drawing into filaments. Due to the high fluidity and small size effect of silicon dioxide, the surface of the material becomes denser and finer, and the coefficient of friction decreases. Coupled with the high strength of nanoparticles, the wear resistance of the material is greatly enhanced.

3. Anti-aging performance. One fatal weakness of epoxy resin-based composites during use is their poor anti-aging performance. The main reason for this is the medium and long waves of ultraviolet rays in the 280-400nm band from the sun, which have a very serious destructive effect on resin-based composites. The degradation of polymer chains leads to the rapid aging of resin-based composites. Silica can strongly reflect ultraviolet rays. When added to epoxy resin, it can significantly reduce the degradation effect of ultraviolet rays on epoxy resin, thereby achieving the purpose of delaying material aging.