Recycled natural rubber toughened epoxy conductive materials

Abstract

Graphene based epoxy composite was prepared by using mechanical mixing and was tested with variety of testings and characterization. Firstly, the effect of graphene content on properties of epoxy/graphene composite was studied. With addition of graphene, properties such as density, flexural strength, flexural modulus, fracture toughness, electrical conductivity and thermal stability were enhanced. The percolation threshold was recorded at 0.8 vol.% of graphene content. Secondly, the effect of recycled natural rubber (rNR) content on properties of epoxy/rNR/graphene composite was investigated. At 5 vol.% of rNR content, the desired optimum properties such as density, flexural strength, flexural modulus, fracture toughness and electrical conductivity were obtained. Excessive incorporation of rubber content caused agglomeration and voids which deteriorated mechanical properties of the composite. Lastly, the effect of graphene content on properties of epoxy/rNR/graphene composite with fixed at 5 vol.% of rNR was determined. It can be confirmed that the percolation content was reduced from 0.8 vol.% to 0.6 vol.%. The epoxy/rNR/graphene composite exhibits the greatest electrical conductivity and mechanical properties including flexural strength, flexural modulus and fracture toughness.