Effect of perlite on the thermal conductivity,thermal degradation and mechanical properties of epoxy materials

In this study, the thermal conductivity, thermal degradation and mechanical properties of the perlite added epoxy materials were investigated. Perlite was added into the epoxy resin (EP) at the rate of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% compared to the total mass. For the analysis of these epoxy materials, the thermal conductivity, density, hardness, X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectra, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), tensile strength, flexural strength, limit oxygen index (LOI) and vertical burning tests were carried out. With the added perlite (PER10), a decrease of 24.03% occurred in the thermal conductivity coefficient compared to the pure EP material. A maximum decrease of 6.86% was detected in its density. It gained fire retardant feature as it increased from 6.15% to 28.71% in V-0 and carbon residue as inflammability class. Despite the decrease of tensile stress, tensile modulus increased. The maximum increase PER02 was 36.9%. It did not provide any improvement in terms of other mechanical properties.