Study of the surface properties of the epoxy/quasicrystal composite

Abstract

This work consists of the study of the surface and Hardness properties of epoxy/quasicrystal (QC) composites. The composites had volumetric proportions of 1%, 10%, 20% and 30%, where the comparison was made between the composites and the pure epoxy resin. Techniques of Shore D Hardness, Thermogravimetric Analysis Techniques, Roughness Test, Contact Angle Analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used. Wettability test allowed to analyze the surface of the composite under the influence of two liquids: saline water and paraffinic oil. Regarding the composite and the pure resin, the contact angle increased when the liquid used in the test was saline water and decreased when exposed to paraffinic oil. It could be ensured that this small variation of the contact angles in relation to the increase of the composition occurred due to the influence of the roughness. In relation to saline water, the roughness has operated in order to prevent the liquid from spreading on the composite. As for paraffinic oil, it influenced in an opposite way, absorbing the oil and reducing the angle formed. When analyzing the pure quasicrystal, the effect was contrary to that of the composite: when it was exposed to saline water the contact angle decreased, on the other hand when exposed to paraffinic oil the resulting angle increased. This effect is related to the low polarity of the Quasicrystal, which when exposed to an apolar liquid tends to repel, thus forming a greater contact angle. Through this study it is concluded that it was possible to obtain a composite QC/Epoxy with greater hardness and still maintain its surface characteristics. Keywords: Quasicrystal, Composite, Angle of contact, Roughness, Wettability, Shore D Hardness