DEVELOPMENT OF CLAY PARTICLEREINFORCED EPOXY COMPOSITES

Abstract

In this research, clay was used as filler material in epoxy to produce particulate reinforced polymer based composites. Ikere clay was gotten from its deposit and was processed by washing and sieving to remove inclusions and obtained fine particles of the clay. The clay particle was sun dried for 5 days and passed through sieve shaker to obtain 38 μm passages. Composites were developed by open mould technique with varied wt. % of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20 and 25 clay particulates that were used to reinforce epoxy. The effect of reinforcing epoxy with clay on the mechanical, wear and electrical properties were examined. Water absorption test and Scanning Electron Microscopic analysis were carried out on the fractured surfaces of the developed composite samples. The mechanical properties were all carried out in accordance with ASTM standards and performed at room temperature. The result of the research indicated that composite developed with 15 wt. % reinforcement has the best impact strength of 11.197 J, maximum resistivity of 1.07E+04 and least conductivity of 3.84E-03 while 10 wt. % reinforced composites possess the best hardness with a value of 84.35 HRA and wear resistance of 0.008 W.I., respectively. Water absorption test results show that as the clay content increases, the water absorption tendency increases.