Investigation on Wettability and Mechanical Properties of Novel Zinc Phosphate Glass-Based Epoxy Composites

Abstract Herein, we investigate the mechanical and wetting properties of composites-based epoxy matrix reinforced zinc phosphate glass particles at different volume fractions. The investigated composites were characterized using X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. In addition, the morphology of composite was performed using scanning electron microscope tool. Moreover, the wettability of the composite performed by measuring water contact angle and surface energy. Contact angle findings revealed that the incorporation of zinc phosphate glass has significantly decreased with increasing filler concentration, while the surface energy values increased with filler concentration allowing improvement of the zinc phosphate glass-polymer interface. Besides, the investigated composites display enhanced mechanical properties for Young’s modulus. In this study, the glass transition temperature has been determined using differential scanning calorimetry analysis which suggested that consolidated composites are significantly homogeneous and have good thermal stability.