Measurements on the Enhancement of the Thermal Conductivity of an Epoxy Resin when Reinforced with Glass Fiber and Carbon Multiwalled Nanotubes

Abstract

Measurements of the enhancement of the thermal conductivity of an epoxy resin, when reinforced with plies of plain weave glass fabric and by carbon multiwalled nanotubes (C-MWNT) and with both, are presented. The transient hot-wire technique, as it was recently modified to measure the thermal conductivity of solids, was used with an uncertainty of less than ± 1 %. The results revealed for the epoxy reinforced with glass fibers, with volume fraction of 28 % (47 % weight fraction), the thermal conductivity increase was 27 % compared to plain epoxy resin. When reinforced with C-MWNT, the maximum enhancement observed was about 20 % at a concentration of 1.2 % by weight of C-MWNT. Similarly, when reinforced with both the C-MWNT and glass fibers, the maximum thermal conductivity enhancement observed was about 60 % at a concentration of 1.2 % by weight of C-MWNT.