Mechanical and tribological performances of epoxy-acrylate resin nanocomposites production via stereolithography

In order to overcome the problems of high brittleness, poor mechanical properties and the tribological performances of photocurable resin, nan-silica (SiO2) particles were modified by coupling agent, and then added into liquid photocurable resin, to synthesize epoxy-acrylate resin nanocomposites. The mechanical properties of the composites have been greatly improved due to the good strengthening and toughening effects of the nano-silica particles. The tribological results showed that the frictional coefficients and the wear mass losses reduced significantly when the nano-silica particles content is 5 wt%. The results highlight the potential of inorganic ceramics particles filled photocurable polymer toward the fabrication of high performance epoxy-acrylate resin based composites by lithography-based additive manufacturing.