Physico‐mechanical and thermo‐mechanical analysis of zinc borate filled glass fiber reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

The potential benefits of using zinc borate powder as filler material in the production of glass fiber‐reinforced composites were explored in this study. The epoxy matrix was filled with zinc borate powder at 5%, 10%, and 15% by weight, as part of the hand lay‐up approach followed by a compression molding process. Ultrasonication was used to mix the epoxy resin with zinc borate fillers. Both the elemental composition and morphological characteristics were studied using a scanning electron microscope and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis. The composite's density, tensile behavior, flexural behavior, impact resistance, and hardness were all measured experimentally. The potential incorporation of zinc borate particles resulted in a modest reduction in the void contents, in addition to enhancing the interfacial bonding in glass fiber‐reinforced composites as also a significant improvement in both the mechanical and thermal properties of the hybrid composites produced. The 10 wt.% zinc borate‐ filled glass fiber‐reinforced composites exhibited a significant rise in both ultimate tensile strength (227 MPa), ultimate compressive strength (239 MPa), and ultimate flexural strength (406 MPa) compared to the unfilled counterpart. The performance of the laminated composites was greatly improved by adding zinc borate powder particles to the matrix.Highlights In the present work glass fiber was reinforced with zinc borate to explore the morphological, mechanical, and thermal properties. Ultrasonication was used to mix the epoxy resin and zinc borate fillers and the composites were manufactured by compression molding process. The addition of zinc borate resulted in an increase in tensile strength, flexural strength, and compressive strength. The thermal stability of the composites was increased by the addition of zinc borate to the glass matrix. The good bonding between the matrix and fiber resulted in improvements in various properties.