Thermal properties of unsaturated polyester composites filled with rice husk derived - silica aerogel

Abstract

Due to its mesoporous structure and unique properties, silica aerogel was chosen as nanoporous filler for unsaturated polyester in this paper. To prevent resin intrusion into its nanopores structure, silica aerogel particles were coated with polymer and the comparative study on thermal properties of unsaturated polyester composites filled with polymer coated silica aerogel and uncoated silica aerogel was presented. Cheap silica aerogel was produced from rice husk ash via ambient pressure drying. Thermal properties of the composites were studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and hot disk thermal analyzer. It is concluded that the composite filled with coated aerogel particles demonstrate lower thermal conductivity and better thermal stability than the composite containing uncoated aerogel due to preservation of aerogel pores from resin intrusion. Chemical analysis by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy reveals that the mixing between polyester resin and silica aerogels does not alter the chemical properties of the base polymer.