Synergistic influence of CaCO3 nanoparticle on the mechanical and thermal of fly ash reinforced epoxy polymer composites

The modification of epoxy/fly ash composites by nano CaCO3 is an impressive way to enhance its prevailed properties. After modification of nano CaCO3, to understand mechanical behavior is meaningful in various fields, and enhancement in mechanical properties can advantageous to the convention in the various structural applications. The fly ash reinforced epoxy nanocomposite was prepared by mixing DGEBA epoxy resin and polyamine as a curing agent in which fly ash with 10 wt% and nano rCaCO(3) with different (0, 1, 3 and 5) wt% were ultra-sonically dispersed for 30 min. The mechanical behavior of the prepared sample has been evaluated whereas the SEM technique was carried out to examine the morphological properties of epoxy/fly ash nanocomposite. Based on the morphological study, crack binding, crack transformation and strong interfacial bonding of CaCO3 nanoparticles were the prime reasons resulting in the enhancement of mechanical strength. The result indicates that the tensile strength of epoxy/fly ash composites increased by about 52.41% with the inclusion of 5 wt% CaCO3 nano reinforcement, whereas the impact strength and flexural strength were improved by 43.24% and 42.36% for the composition of 3 wt% nano CaCO3 reinforced epoxy/fly ash cast as compared to unmodified epoxy/fly ash cast. The thermal stability of epoxy/fly ash nanocomposites were analyzed by TGA and DSC technique. The degradation kinetics and water absorption behavior were also examined for above. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Nanoelectronics, Nanophotonics, Nanomaterials, Nanobioscience & Nanotechnology.