Nanocomposites are materials reinforced with fillers having nanosize that are composed from two materials, the
base material and the filler material, where the filler has at least one dimension that falls within the nanoscale.
The purpose of this research is to study the effect of additions nanoparticles (ZnO) on the fracture toughness,
morphological and antibacterial properties of pure epoxy, nanocomposites were prepared by reinforcing epoxy
matrix with two concentration (1%wt and 5 wt%) from zinc oxide (ZnO). Results show that the addition (1% wt.
ZnO) gives the best fracture toughness (compact tension and single edge notched bending) properties where the
values of KIC for (C.T=4.38 MPa m1/2, SENB=5.05 MPa m1/2). For the Infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometer
(FT-IR) results show physical interaction between nanoparticles and epoxy matrix, and there is no chemical
reaction between them. In the Atomic Force Microscope test (AFM) test, an increase in the nanoparticle s surface
roughness could lead to the intimate interfacial adhesion between nanoparticles and matrix by mechanical
interlocking. Lastly, by examining the antibacterial properties, it was found that all the tested additives were
inhibitory to the gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) and gram positive bacteria (staphylococcal aureus), and
the ratio [1 wt% ZnO)] gives the best result