Finding uses for plastic is becoming increasingly important because it has one of the lowest recycling rates among fabricated materials. Wood, on the other hand, is a natural material that is referred to as biomass and is being used as a clean energy source. Researchers are now looking to form a composite pellet of wood and plastic which would simultaneously increase the value of the fuel while providing a practical ...
Expanded graphite (EG) was added to lauric acid (LA)-stearic acid (SA) phase change materials to enhance their thermal conductivities. The PCMs were prepared in varying mass fractions of LA and SA, and 10 wt. % of EG was added. The phase change temperature and phase change enthalpy were determined by DSC, while the thermal conductivities, and thermal stabilities of the PCMs were determined by the transient plane source and thermogravimetric analysis, ...
Low-temperature expandable graphite (LTEG) was blended into low-density polyethylene (LDPE) to prepare composite materials with an enhanced thermal conductivity in comparison to pure LDPE. The thermal conductivity of a composite containing 60 wt. % LTEG was found to be increased by a factor of 23 in comparison to the pure polymer. The LTEG was also found to decrease the melting temperature and degree of crystallinity of the LDPE, and the composites were also ...
The effects of the addition of three different fillers to a polymer matrix on the thermo-physical properties of the resulting composites were investigated by the authors. Boron nitride, synthetic diamond, and silicon nitride were used as the fillers (up to 2 vol. %), and it was found that their addition did increase the thermal conductivity relative to that of the pure epoxy matrix. Furthermore, it was determined that the thermal conductivities of ...
Polyactic acid (PLA)-micro hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)-graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) polymer composites were prepared, and the effects of varying filler contents on the thermal and mechanical properties of the polymer composites were investigated. It was determined that the addition of the GNPs resulted in a decrease in thermal conductivity in comparison to a PLA-hBN composite unless the GNP:hBN ratio was 1:1, where the thermal conductivity was equal to that ...