Thermomechanical and optical characteristics of nanoquartz- and nanozircon-filled poly(methyl methacrylate) composites

The thermomechanical and optical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/quartz and PMMA/zircon composites at filler content variations of 0, 1, 2.5, and 5 wt% have been studied. The silica quartz and zircon powders were derived from local sands collected from Tanah Laut, South Kalimantan, and Kereng Pangi, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, respectively. The nanoquartz and nanozircon fillers (herewith were designated as quartz and zircon respectively) were obtained by milling these powders for 15 h. Dynamic mechanical analysis was used to acquire the storage modulus and glass transition temperature as the thermomechanical properties of the PMMA/quartz and PMMA/zircon composites. Meanwhile, the optical properties were determine using ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. Results indicate that zircon fillers can improve the storage modulus of the composites up to 1.85 times that of PMMA alone. Zircon is more effective than silica in improving the storage modulus of PMMA. Implementing the degradation rate model shows us that all the composites have nearly the same degradation behavior in the glassy region. Moreover, the addition of fillers decreases the band gap energies.