Thermal Conductivity, Thermal Diffusivity and Specific Heat of TPNR Hybrid Nanocomposites at Different Temperatures

Abstract

This paper discusses the inclusion of hybrid nanofillers nanoclay and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as reinforcing agents to improve the thermal properties of TPNR. The laser flash technique was also employed to determine the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and specific heat capacity of the nanocomposite. Two types of hybrid nanofillers were introduced into TPNR, which are untreated hybrid composites (UTH) prepared from MWNTs (without acid treatment)-nanoclay and treated hybrid composites (TH), consisting of acid treated MWNTs and nanoclay. The thermal properties of treated hybrid composites are better than untreated hybrid composites. The thermal conductivity of untreated hybrid composites that were sintered at 30 to 150 oC did not show a monotonous change with MWNTs as the filler has a high thermal conductivity compared to nanoclay. The results showed that the thermal diffusivity decreased with the increasing of temperature. The specific heat of all the measured samples increases linearly with the measured temperature from 30°C to 150°C.