High thermal and thermomechanical properties obtained by reinforcing a bisphenol-A based phthalonitrile resin with silicon nitride nanoparticles

A new kind of nanocomposites based on phthalonitrile resin reinforced with silicon nitride (SiN) nanoparticles was prepared by a hot compression molding technique. For different weight ratios ranging between 0% and 15%, the effect of nano-SiN particles on the thermal and thermomechanical properties has been studied. Results from thermal analysis revealed that the starting decomposition temperature and the residual weight at 800 °C were highly improved upon adding the reinforcing phase. At the maximum nano-SiN loading, dynamic mechanical analysis showed an enhancement in both storage modulus and glass transition temperature, reaching 4 GPa and 360 °C respectively. Scanning electron microscope analysis confirmed that these improvements are essentially attributed to the good dispersion and adhesion between the particles and the resin thanks to the particles treatment with silane coupling agent.