Rizal Samsul, Fizree H M, Hossain Md Sohrab, Gopakumar Deepu A, Wan Ni Eunice Chong, Khalil H P S Abdul
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia.
School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
Heliyon. 2020 Mar 11;6(3):e03550. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03550. eCollection 2020 Mar.
This study was conducted to determine the influence of the oil palm boiler ash (OPBA) reinforcement on the microstructural, physical, mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy polymer composites. The chemical composition analysis of OPBA revealed that it contains about 55 wt.% of SiO along with other metallic oxides and elements. The surface morphology of OPBA showed angular and irregular shapes with porous structures. The influence of OPBA as a reinforcement in epoxy composite was studied with varying filler loadings (10-50 wt.%) and different particle sizes (50-150 μm). The result showed that the incorporation of OPBA in composites has improved the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the epoxy matrix. The highest physical and mechanical properties of fabricated composites were attained with 30 wt.% loading and size of 50 μm. Also, thermal stability and the percentage of char residue of the composite increased with increasing filler loading. Furthermore, the contact angle of OPBA reinforced epoxy composites increased with the increase of filler loading. The lowest value of the contact angle was obtained at 30 wt.% of filler loading with the OPBA particle size of 50 μm. The finding of this study reveals that the OPBA has the potential to be used as reinforcement or filler as well as an alternative of silica-based inorganic fillers used in the enhancement of mechanical, physical and thermal properties of the epoxy polymer composite.
本研究旨在确定油棕锅炉灰（OPBA）增强剂对环氧聚合物复合材料微观结构、物理、机械和热性能的影响。OPBA的化学成分分析表明，它含有约55 wt.%的SiO以及其他金属氧化物和元素。OPBA的表面形态呈现出具有多孔结构的角状和不规则形状。研究了不同填料含量（10 - 50 wt.%）和不同粒径（50 - 150 μm）的OPBA作为环氧复合材料增强剂的影响。结果表明，在复合材料中加入OPBA改善了环氧基体的物理、机械和热性能。制备的复合材料在填料含量为30 wt.%、粒径为50 μm时具有最高的物理和机械性能。此外，复合材料的热稳定性和残炭率随填料含量的增加而提高。此外，OPBA增强环氧复合材料的接触角随填料含量的增加而增大。在填料含量为30 wt.%、OPBA粒径为50 μm时获得了最低的接触角值。本研究结果表明，OPBA有潜力用作增强剂或填料，以及替代用于提高环氧聚合物复合材料机械、物理和热性能的二氧化硅基无机填料。
