The Influence of Immersion in Different Chemical Solutions on the Mechanical and Physical properties of (Epoxy/Styrene-Butadiene Rubber) Blend Reinforced with Nano Copper Oxide

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate some mechanical and physicalproperties of a composite material which consists of (epoxy/styrene-butadienerubber) blend as a matrix, reinforced with copper oxide (CuO) with a weightfraction 3%, and the composite material was manufactured by hand lay-up.The optimum mixing ratio was (75:25) % of epoxy and (SBR) was chosen toaccomplish the work due to its highest impact strength (2.1KJ/m2). The teststhat were performed on the material were: tensile test, impact test, thermalconductivity test, and the absorption test, in addition to the microscopicimaging using scanning electron microscope (SEM), to determine the surfacemorphology of the specimens. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrochloricacid (HCl), both (0.1) normal concentration solutions, were used for theimmersion. The results showed that CuO nanofiller improved tensile andimpact properties of the blend, besides increasing resistance to diffusion ofchemicals into the material. The results showed that the immersion in HClsolution increased the impact strength of the composite from (2.27KJ/m2) to(3.38KJ/m2), and also increased the tensile strength from (9.2MPa) to (9.8MPa), while immersion in NaOH solution decreased the tensile strength to(7.3MPa), but increased the impact strength to (2.42KJ/m2). Thermalconductivity was (0.21W/m.°C) before immersion in solutions, but changed to(0.27W/m.°C) and (0.24W/m.°C) after immersion in HCl and NaOHrespectively. The weight gain after immersion in NaOH was higher than weightgain after immersion in HCl.