Abstract: A series of mesoporous silica was prepared from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and γ-aminoproplytrimethoxysiliane (APTMS) by polycondensation. The introduction of APTMS decreased the pore size, pore volume, and specific surface area of the mesoporous silica. When the loading of APTMS was 20 %, the meso-pore-structure in silica was no longer observed. The mesoporous silica was introduced into epoxy resin via melting blending forming a composite. With increasing amount of mesoporous silica from 2 % to 10 %, the tensile properties and toughness of the composites increased observably, and the elongation at break was little changed.

Key words: mesoporous silica, organic modification, epoxy resin, organic-inorganic interpenetrating network, tensile property