Thermal degradation of epoxy resin reinforced with polypropylene fibers |
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| Authors: | T Niranjana Prabhu Y J Hemalatha V Harish K Prashantha P Iyengar |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry, East Point College of Engineering and Technology, Bangalore 560 049, Karnataka, India;2. Department of Chemistry, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Bangalore 560 032, Karnataka, India;3. Department of Physics, Amrita School of Engineering, Bangalore 560 035, India;4. Department Chemistry, People's Education Society Institute of Technology, Bangalore 560 085, India |
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| Abstract: | The influence of polypropylene fibers on the thermal degradation of epoxy composites was investigated with thermogravimetric analysis. Three composites with 5, 10, or 15 wt % polypropylene fibers were prepared with epoxy as a matrix material. The polypropylene fibers, used as reinforcing materials, retarded the thermal decomposition, and increasing the weight percentage of the fiber material increased the thermal stability to a certain extent. Of the three composites, the 10 wt % polypropylene fiber/epoxy resin composite showed very good thermal stability, which was indicated by the increase in the resin decomposition temperature from 280°C for the 5 wt % polypropylene fiber/epoxy resin composite to 375°C for the 10 wt % polypropylene fiber/epoxy resin composite. The Horowitz–Metzger method was used to calculate the activation energies, and the results were tabulated. A morphological analysis was carried out with scanning electron microscopy to evaluate the dispersion of the fibers in the epoxy matrix. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 500–503, 2007 |
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| Keywords: | activation energy composites fibers matrix poly(propylene) (PP) thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) |
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