Influence of the silicon dioxide particle size on the microhardness and elastic modulus of filled epoxy resin

In this paper, the dependence of the elastic modulus and microhardness of the epoxy resin on the size of silicon dioxide nanoparticles in the constant concentration range from 55 to 10 nm was discussed. The elastic modulus was calculated from the depth of the Berkovich indenter print by the Oliver-Pharr method. When adding Tarkosil nanoparticles, a monotonous increase in mechanical properties on the constant weight ratio 2% is observed from 5 to 15% regarding to the properties of pure epoxy resin.