Thermomechanical Properties of Nanosilica Reinforced PEEK Composites

The nano-sized silica particulates reinforced poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) composites were fabricated by means of simple compression molding technique. The nano-sized silica, measuring 30 nm in size, was firstly modified by surface-pretreatment with stearic acid. The thermomechanical properties of the resulting PEEK/SiO2 nanocomposites were measured using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and thermal mechanical analysis (TMA). The TMA results show that the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) becomes lowered when the content of the nanosilica increases. Furthermore, the CTE of the modified-silica filled PEEK nanocomposites shows higher CTE values, as compared with those of the unmodified counterparts. The dynamic modulus of the PEEK nanocomposites shows over 40% increment at elevated temperatures from 100-250oC, indicating the apparent improvement of elevated temperature mechanical properties.