Figure 5
(a) Stress–strain curves calculated from the deformation of the PP composites subjected to an applied uniaxial tensile stress. The PP composites containing silica nanoparticles passivated only by hydrogen (green circles) and in addition functionalized with HMDS (blue circles) or OTES (red circles) molecules are shown. The stress–strain curve for the amorphous PP matrix (black squares) is added for comparison. The sequence of atomistic snapshots corresponding to the selected points (I, II, III and IV) on the stress–strain curve for the PP composite with SiO2 passivated by hydrogen and functionalized with OTES is shown in (b). The mechanism of failure of PP composite via cavitation. The failure occurs via the void formation and growth in the vicinity of functionalized SiO2 nanoparticle. The nucleated void grows rapidly, leading to the ultimate failure. Red arrows indicate the tension direction.
