The effect of incorporation of hybrid silica and cobalt ferrite nanofillers on the mechanical characteristics of glass fiber‐reinforced polymeric composites

Recently, hybrid nanofillers loading has been utilized to fabricate multifunctional composites. In this study, silica (SiO2) and cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles were combined to form a new hybrid composite structure. Nanofilled glass/epoxy hybrid composite laminates were fabricated using hand lay‐up technique. SiO2/CoFe2O4 hybrid fillers were dispersed in epoxy matrix with sonication. The effect of incorporating SiO2/CoFe2O4 hybrid nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of glass fiber/epoxy composites was investigated. The resultant SiO2/CoFe2O4 hybrid nanocomposites showed good mechanical properties as compared to hybrid nanocomposites fabricated by individually loading SiO2 or CoFe2O4 nanoparticles as well as pristine glass fiber/epoxy composite. A visible improvement in the mechanical properties was observed with hybrid nanocomposite that consisted of CoFe2O4/epoxy core layers and SiO2/epoxy skin layers detached with intermediate layers of hybrid SiO2 + CoFe2O4/epoxy. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of tensile and flexural fractured surfaces reveal a good fiber/matrix interfacial bonding.