Thermal and Wettability Properties of Nanoclay-Filled Epoxy-Based Foam Composite as Lightweight Material

Epoxy-based foam composite (EBFC) materials have received considerable attention recently because of their wide range of applications in the aerospace and marine industries. EBFC materials made from hybrid fillers are materials generated to have improved thermal properties. This work focuses on improving the thermal properties and wettability of EBFC materials with hybridized fillers by infusing hollow glass microspheres (HGM) and clay. The HGM content varied between 1 weight percent (wt.%) and 5 wt.% in foam composite materials while clay content varied between 1 wt.% and 5 wt.% in each of the HGM-filled series of foam composite materials. These foam composite materials were fabricated using a conventional resin casting method. The thermal properties, such as thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, coefficient of thermal expansion, as well as specific heat capacity, water contact angles, and percentage of water absorption of hybrid-filled foam composite materials were investigated and compared with neat epoxy and epoxy foam materials. It was found that hybrid-filled foam composite materials exhibited improved thermal properties over neat epoxy material because of good chemical reactions and excellent interfacial adhesion between the fillers and matrix. These improved thermal properties may suggest that this material may be suitable for application in industries where lightweight materials with good thermal properties are required. This reveals a new area in foam composite manufacturing research by enhancing thermal properties with hybrid fillers.