Fly Ash Epoxy Composites with Superior Fire Retardant Properties

Epoxy was loaded with varying concentrations of fly ash and was characterized for its structural properties using XRD and SEM. The XRD results revealed reduction of crystallinity with increase in filler content indicating that the composites are semi crystalline in nature. The SEM images showed that at lower concentration of filler content, fly ash is uniformly distributed within the epoxy and at higher concentrations of fly ash, agglomerates were observed. Mechanical properties such as tensile and compressive properties were estimated and the results showed that, the composites exhibit enhanced tensile strength and compressive strength for epoxy with 20 wt% fly ash. Flammable properties such as heat release rate, peak heat release rate, time to ignition, CO and CO2 yields are estimated and reported. Decrease in combustion time, peak heat release rate, time to ignition, CO and CO2 yields with increase in filler content clearly indicates the superior flammability performance of epoxy composites loaded with fly ash.