Strengthening and thermal stabilization of polyurethane nanocomposites with silicon carbide nanoparticles by a surface-initiated-polymerization approach

Silicon carbide reinforced polyurethane nanocomposites were fabricated by a facile surface-initiated-polymerization (SIP) method. The particle loading was tuned to up to 35 wt% without any obvious shrinkage and breakage as compared with the conventional direct mixing method. An increased thermal stability of the composites was observed with the addition of the silicon carbide nanoparticles under thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). Tensile strength was observed to increase dramatically with the increase of the particle loading. Both the uniform particle dispersion and the strong chemical bonding between the nanoparticles and the polymer–matrix contributed to the enhanced thermal stability and improved mechanical properties.