The Effects of Various Nanoparticles on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of an Epoxy Resin

This paper studies the mechanical and thermal properties of a nanocomposite made from the combination of epoxy resin and various nanoparticles. Three nanoparticles are considered, namely, alumina, spinel and graphite, incorporated with different volume percentages, in the epoxy matrix based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA). The polyamines [trimethyl hexamethylenediamine – 1,3-bis (aminomethyl) benzol] are used mainly as hardeners. Tensile tests and thermal conductivity measurements were carried out to evaluate the thermal and mechanical characteristics of the different nanoparticles/epoxy composites selected in this study. The mechanical and thermal properties are dependent on the concentration of nanoparticles reinforcements. It is found that when the particle concentrations increase, the nanocomposites rapidly lose their plasticity and adopt a brittle behaviour.