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DOCUMENT
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Morphological, optical and thermal characterisation of aerogel/epoxy composites for thermal insulation applications
dataset
posted on 2018-08-23, 10:35 authored by Surya KrishnaswamySurya Krishnaswamy, Debabrata Bhattacharyya, Hrushikesh Abhyankar, Veronica Marchante RodriguezVeronica Marchante Rodriguez, Zhaorong HuangZhaorong Huang, James BrightonJames BrightonThe
present work explores the possibility of introducing aerogel particles at different
stages of the epoxy resin cure to find the most effective method that ensures
minimal destruction of the former along with a high degree of mouldability for
the composite material. The aerogel particles are added at 0.5 hours, 1 hour
and 1.5 hours after the resin and the hardener are mixed together.
Additionally, the effect of a wetting agent that improves the interface between
the aerogel and the resin is also investigated. The different materials are
characterised using optical images and electron microscope with energy
dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to determine the most effective processing route.
Additional data is also provided by determining the different material’s
optical transmittance and reflective characteristics. From the experimental
results, it is seen that the addition of aerogel at the 1 hour mark proves to
be the most efficient route to follow. In addition, the wetting agent displays
a negligible effect on the samples in the study; hence its usage is advocated.
Therefore, the aerogel/epoxy/wetting agent sample with the aerogel added at the
1 hour mark is the most promising material. A 13.3% decrease in thermal
conductivity when compared with the pure resin/hardener sample along with the calculated
aerogel damage coefficient value of 0.227 (22.7%) confirms its promise and
potential for thermal insulation applications.