Filler‐size‐dependent dynamic mechanical properties of polyethylene glycol/zircon composites

Abstract

The thermomechanical properties of polyethylene glycol (PEG) composites filled with various zircon sizes were studied. The zircon powders were derived from natural (well-known as puya) sand collected from Kereng Pangi, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The effects of the zircon size and content were examined to understand the thermomechanical properties of the composites using dynamic mechanical analysis in shear mode. Pure zircon powders with micron to nanometer sizes were prepared. The microzircon powders were prepared by heating zircon at 500, 1000, and 1200 C. Moreover, the nanozircon powders were prepared by a wet milling method with milling times of 5, 10, and 15 hours. Furthermore, the composites were prepared by a wet mixing method. According to elemental analysis of scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) data, it was found that the various zircon sizes caused different distribution effects, that is, in general, the smaller the size was, the better the distribution. Filler size variation also affected the thermomechanical properties of the composites. The addition of microzircon heated at 1200 C had the lowest storage moduli (G'), that is, 154.90 MPa and 155.55 MPa for 5 wt.% and 10 wt.%, respectively. Moreover, the maximum value of G' was obtained for the composite with the addition of nanozircon milled for 10 h (Z10h), that is, 679.27 MPa and 706.37 MPa for 5 and 10 wt.%, respectively. The addition of nanozircon slightly reduced roomtemperature G', presumably due to the agglomerated filler, as confirmed by the SEM/EDX data. Moreover, a decrease in zircon size caused an increase in the melting temperature (T m ) of the matrix. In contrast, 15 h of milling had a minor effect on T m and G', whereas the loss modulus (G") decreased with the addition of nanozircon. The effects of filler size on the thermomechanical properties of PEG/zircon composites are discussed in detail. K E Y W O R D Snano-and micron-sized filler, PEG, thermomechanical properties, zircon

Dynamic and Relaxation of PEG polymer Chain Segment for Phase Change Materials (PCMs)

“…The diffraction properties of the silica xerogel made from beach sand extraction and its composites demonstrate an amorphous structure with an increase in the background diffraction at 2-theta between 20 and 29q. These findings have been verified based on the findings of earlier investigations on silica xerogel [16][17][18][19], these findings have been verified. The highest peaks of PEG's semicrystalline structure, which arise at two theta and correspond to 19.09 and 23.19q, respectively, are numerous.…”