investigation of polyurethane-based elastomeric microcomposites reinforced with titanium dioxide (tio2)

The properties of polymer micro composites, in addition to the inherent characteristics of the components, are strongly influenced by other factors such as the filler/polymer interactions and the content of the reinforcements in the ground phase. the latter highly affects the dispersion and orientation of fillers. one reinforcement with photocatalytic properties is titanium dioxide (tio2) microparticles widely used in biological and medical engineering fields. the purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of titanium dioxide loading on the mechanical, thermal, and physical properties of the reinforced phase. for this purpose, two-phase polyurethane resin has been used as the base polymer. tensile tests, densitometry, differential scanning calorimetry analysis (dsc), and water contact angle test was employed to examine the mechanical, thermal, and physical properties of micro composites filled with  0,1,5 and 8 wt% of tio2. the results showed that by increasing the tio2 content up to an optimal point, the mechanical properties increase and then decrease due to several reasons including agglomeration and changes in the cross-link density of the cured resin. moreover, with the increase in the tio2 loading, the results indicated an increase in the density, a decrease in the thermal enthalpy, and a reduction in the hydrophobicity of the corresponding micro composites.