Various sizes and different surface distribution of silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) were successfully prepared with pure silicon powder and gold colloid as the source and catalyst, respectively, on the Si(111) substrate at different temperatures using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The SiNPs structural and optical properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The average size of nanoparticles increases from 18 to 40 nm with increasing temperature from 750 to 1050 °C, respectively. A broad band PL with nearly same peak position at 630 nm and different intensity is observed for the small and large nanoparticles samples. Effect of catalyst size and growth temperature on glass transition temperature ( Tg), fracture energy ( GIC), fracture toughness ( KIC), and yield stress, were studied. The Tg values of the silicon grown nanoparticles with different gold colloid sizes filled epoxies were determined to be 80 ± 2 °C, which match the neat resin at 80 °C. In finally, the fracture toughness and fracture
