Performance Augmentation of Epoxy Adhesives with TiN Nanoparticles.

In the current study, nanoparticles (NPs) of titanium nitride (50-70 nm) in varying amounts (0-4 wt %) were uniformly suspended in an epoxy solution and then used to cast the films of nanocomposites. The same formulations were used to prepare the lap shear strength joints using stainless-steel coupons with the help of standard molds and then employing the compression molding technique. The nanocomposites films were characterized for their physical properties, thermal stability, friction performance, and scratch hardness, while the lap shear strength of joints prepared using nanocomposites as nanoadhesives was evaluated. The failed surfaces of joints were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to understand the failure modes, that is, micro-failure mechanisms, while the cross-sectional surfaces of fractured nanocomposites were investigated using SEM to identify the distribution of NPs. The increase in the contents of NPs in the epoxy led to an almost linear increase in the selected performance properties. The highest (70%) improvement in the lap shear strength was observed with 4 wt % NPs, which was correlated with an increase in the hardness of composites.