Mechanical properties of interface-free polyacrylate-silica hybrid sol-gelmaterials for potential dental applications

The mechanical properties of polyacrylate-silica hybrid sol-gel materials h ave been investigated in comparison with conventional resin composites. The hybrid materials with a wide range of silica content were synthesized via the sol-gel reactions of the silica precursor tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEO S) with acrylate copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with 3-(trimethoxy silyl)propyl methacrylate (MSMA). In these materials, the polymer chains ar e uniformly distributed in and covalently bonded to the inorganic silica ho st matrix at the molecular level without macroscopic organic-inorganic phas e separation. The hybrid materials are transparent and non-porous. In the s tandard compression test, the hybrid materials exhibited strain hardening b ehavior which was absent in the conventional PMMA-silica composites. Their mechanical properties can be fine-tuned by varying the polyacrylate-silica composition in the synthesis and are superior over conventional composites at similar silica contents. These hybrid materials are promising for potent ial dental applications. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.