The Effect of Various Sol-Gel Doping on Epoxy Resin

Abstract

We have studied the mechanical and electrical properties of several sol-gel mixtures with the epoxy resin (Duratek DTE 1200) for the first time. The spectrum of the samples ranges from 5% and 10% to 15% of the volume of sol-gel to the host resin. These sol-gel samples are pure BaZrO2, Mn, and Zn doped BaTiO2 and La-Sr half-half doped YZr2O7. These samples were prepared by the sol-gel technique and added to the epoxy resin with the volumes mentioned, including the hardener. The effects caused by the addition of the sol-gel samples into the epoxy resin were investigated with a micro-hardness tester. The effects on the electrical properties of the samples were studied using the room temperature dielectric measurements. Polarized light microscopy technique was used to define the change in the microstructures of the epoxy with these dopants. We have observed an increase in the hardness of the epoxy resin with an increase in the quantity of sol-gel mixtures for BaZrO2, Mn and Zn-doped BaTiO2 while a decrease was observed for La-Sr half-half doped YZr2O7. The dielectric spectrum measurements over these samples showed a correlation with structural changes. The samples which got harder showed a dynamical dielectric behavior with some relaxation spectrum while the other sample which got softer became more conductive and did not show any relaxation signature.