Structural, mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of carbon black reinforced polyester resin composites

Abstract

ABSTRACTCarbon black (CB) reinforced polyester resin (PR) composites (CPC) have been fabricated from mechanical mixtures of liquid PR and CB powder having 0–50 wt% CB contents and cured with 1% of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide at room temperature under a pressure of 50 MPa. The samples have been examined by the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD) technique, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical test, micromechanical test, differential thermal analysis (DTA), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and electrical test. FTIR spectra confirm the physical and chemical bond formations between CB and PR. XRD shows a very partial crystalline structure in cured PR and hexagonal structure in CB particles. SEM exhibits a clear dispersion of CB particles in PR matrix at lower loading and aggregates at higher loading. With the increase of fillers, while the tensile and flexural strengths of CPCs decrease, the Young's and tangent modulii increase by 80 and 100%, respectively. These increments are found consistent with the theoretical values. The degree of physical crosslinking between CB and PR as well as the aspect ratio of CB in CPCs are found to increase with the increase of filler. A remarkable increase in microhardness of about 61% at 50 wt% CB content is observed. The TGA represents that the thermal degradation temperature for pure PR is 373°C and that for CPC is 393°C. The dielectric constant of CPCs decreases with increasing frequency, whereas the ac‐ and dc‐ conductivities of CPC are found to increase with CB content. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40421.