Effect of Hybrid Fillers on Electrical, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Glass Epoxy Composites

Failure of composites in various industrial applications has directed the requirement for further improvement in the electrical, mechanical, and thermal characteristics of polymers to meet the challenging requirements of the industry. In this study, different fillers namely SiO2, Al2O3, SiC, MoS2, graphite and cenosphere have been incorporated into the ECR glass fabric reinforced epoxy matrix. To exploit the application of these composites for electrical applications, the V-I characteristics is determined with a voltage range of 1V to 20V and impedance of the composites were determined in the range of 20 Hz to 10 MHz, at 25, 50 and 75±2°C. Also, an attempt is made to investigate the mechanical and thermal properties of composites. Composite with 5 wt.% of graphite filler has a maximum surface and volume current of 1.4nA and 0.05nA with a DC voltage that varies from 1V to 20V. Thermal stability improves in 10 wt.% of silicon carbide and 5wt.% of silica (nano and micro filler) at 70 and 80% weight loss, respectively. The glass epoxy with alumina has the highest density of 2.12 g/cm3. The highest value of hardness is achieved in 10 wt.% of cenosphere composite over the base material.