Dynamic-Mechanical Properties and Thermal Conductivity of a Polyester Resin Containing Modified Graphene Oxide Particles

Abstract

Hypothesis: Unsaturated polyester resin has many applications in composite industry. In thick part items made with this resin, a lot of heat is released in a short time during curing, on the other hand, the low heat transfer coefficient of this resin increases the temperature in the center of the part to 200°C. In thick parts, the large temperature difference between the center and walls of the sample causes internal stresses, so the addition of particles with high thermal conductivity can help to eliminate this defect. Therefore, in this research, graphene oxide particles have been used to improve the properties of unsaturated polyester resin.Methods: In this study, graphene oxide and modified graphene oxide were used to improve the thermal conductivity and dynamic properties of unsaturated polyester resin. The effect of adding graphene oxide and modified graphene oxide particles on thermal conductivity and dynamic properties of the resin by amounts of 0.05 and 0.3% (wt) of the particles was studied by a thermal conductivity measuring device for solids and DMA test.Findings: The results showed that silane modifier can cause strong covalent bonds between the particles and resin and change the thermal conductivity coefficient and dynamic properties. Addition of 0.05% by weight of graphene oxide to the resin increased the storage modulus in the glass region by 10%. Adding the same amount of modified graphene oxide increased the storage modulus by 36%. Silane modifier improved the dispersion of graphene oxide particles in the resin, and created stronger interactions between the particles and the resin network, so significantly increased the resin storage modulus. Better particle dispersion in the resin can increase the surface heat resistance of the particles. Therefore, the thermal conductivity is reduced compared to the thermal conductivity of unmodified graphene oxide.

Keywords

• unsaturated polyester resin
• graphene oxide
• silane
• thermal conductivity coefficient
• dynamic-mechanical properties