• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.632-636
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• 2005

In this work, the effect of chemical treatments on surface properties of SiC was investigated in thermal and mechanical interfacial behaviors of SiC/PMMA nanocomposites. The acid/base value, contact angles, and FT-IR analysis were performed for the study of surface characteristics of the SiC studied. The thermal stabilities of the SiC/PMMA nanocomposites were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Also the mechanical interfacial properties of the composites were studied in critical stress intensity factor ($K_{IC}$) and critical strain energy release rate ($G_{IC}$) measurements. As a result, the acidically treated SiC (A-SiC) had higher acid value than that of untreated SiC (V-SiC) or basically treated SiC (B-SiC). The acidic solution treatment led to an increase in surface free energy of the SiC, mainly due to the increase of its specific component. Thermal and mechanical interfacial properties of the SiC/PMMA nanocomposites, including initial decomposition temperature (IDT), $K_{IC}$, and $G_{IC}$ had been improved in the acidic treatment on SiC. This was due to the improvement in the interfacial bonding strength, resulting from the acid-base interfacial interactions between the fillers and polymeric matrix.