Experimental Investigation of Heat Conduction in Red Mud/Epoxy and Red Mud/Polyester Composites

Aluminum is one of the most abundant elements, and its global production generates an immense amount of industrial waste, which is the red mud. Thus, it is necessary to develop technologies aimed to reusing red mud. In this context, this work aims to experimentally examine variations in the effective thermal conductivity of polymers, modified with the addition of different amounts of red mud. To accomplish this goal, composites with (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25) % w/w of red mud waste were manufactured using epoxy and unsaturated polyester resin as matrices. Effective thermal conductivities were measured and quantified. The data found experimentally showed a significant increase of the effective thermal conductivity as the concentration of red mud and temperature increase. The glass transition temperature was not significantly influenced by the red mud waste. Traditional theoretical models underestimate the effective thermal conductivity when compared to experimental data.