Investigations on the Morphological, Mechanical, Ablative, Physical, Thermal, and Electrical Properties of EPDM-Based Composites for the Exploration of Enhanced Thermal Insulation Potential

Our plain-English summary of Investigations on the Morphological, Mechanical, Ablative, Physical, Thermal, and Electrical Properties of EPDM-Based Composites for the Exploration of Enhanced Thermal Insulation Potential, by N. Arshad, G. Qasim, A.M. Beagan (Polymers, 2022).

The study

• Authors: N. Arshad, G. Qasim, A.M. Beagan
• Journal: Polymers
• Published: 2022;14(5)
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The most widely used filler in EPDM-based thermal insulation materials is asbestos which is hazardous to health and environment. The main motivation of this study was to develop improved EPDM-based materials by partially or completely replacing asbestos with other fillers. EPDM-Esprene501A and EPDM-Keltan®4869DE were used and the effect of three fillers (vulkasil-C, asbestos, carbon fiber fabric) on mechanical, ablative, physical, thermal, and electrical performances have been investigated. Samples were divided into phase -1, -2, and -3 by compounding EPDM with various percentages of fillers and other necessary ingredients. It was observed that asbestos and carbon fiber in the absence of vulkasil-C did not import enough reinforcement to EPDM-matrix. Experimental evidence showed that presence of vulkasil-C has not only enhanced mechanical properties but also improved thermal and ablation performance of EPDM-based composites. The swelling index was found comparatively lower with vulkasil-C than that with other fillers. Among two EPDMs, EPDM-Esprene based composites have shown comparatively better performance. Among all (phase-1-3) samples, E100K0VA (phase-2) has shown greater mechanical (stress 3.89 MPa; strain 774%), ablative (linear 0.1 mm/s; mass 0.05 g/s), and thermal (material left 91.0%) properties. Overall findings indicated improved properties of EPDM in the presence of vulkasil-C and may help to develop better heat resistant materials.

In plain English

This was a laboratory materials study, not a study of people or health. The authors noted that asbestos is hazardous to health. They made 21 rubber recipes from two types of EPDM rubber (Esprene and Keltan) and three fillers: chrysotile asbestos, vulkasil-C (precipitated silica) and carbon fiber fabric. The fillers were used alone, together, or left out. The authors tested strength, stretch, resistance to an oxyacetylene flame, density, swelling, heat stability and electrical conductivity. In the first series, adding more asbestos raised tensile stress from 1.28 to 2.73 MPa but lowered stretch from 208% to 128%. The asbestos samples had low ablation rates. Samples with vulkasil-C swelled less than those with asbestos or carbon fiber. The best overall sample, E100K0VA, was Esprene rubber with 30 g vulkasil-C and 90 g asbestos. It reached a stress of 3.89 MPa and, when heated under nitrogen, kept 91.0% of its material at 500 °C. The authors concluded that these "cheap, and less hazardous" composites could be explored for better thermal insulation. The best-performing sample still contained asbestos. The study did not measure fiber release or health effects.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: laboratory experiment on rubber composite materials (materials science; no human or animal subjects)
• Who was studied: 21 EPDM rubber composite recipes made in three series: 9 in phase-1, 7 in phase-2 and 5 in phase-3, using EPDM-Esprene 501A and EPDM-Keltan 4869C DE
• Exposure: Fillers added to the rubber: asbestos (chrysotile), vulkasil-C (precipitated silica) and carbon fiber fabric (graphite fiber), in varying amounts. Phase-2 samples used fixed amounts of 30 g vulkasil-C and 90 g asbestos.
• Main results:
  • Phase-1 asbestos samples (EPA-1 to EPA-3): as asbestos increased, tensile stress rose from 1.28 to 2.73 MPa and strain fell from 208% to 128%
  • Phase-1 vulkasil-C samples (EPV-1 to EPV-3) had stress of 1.87, 2.20 and 5.60 MPa and strain of 445, 454 and 855%
  • Phase-1 asbestos composites showed low linear and mass ablation rates
  • Vulkasil-C samples swelled less than asbestos and carbon fiber fabric samples
  • Phase-2 sample E100K0VA (Esprene with vulkasil-C and asbestos) had the highest stress and strain, given in the text as 3.89 MPa and 779%
  • In thermogravimetric analysis (TGA, heating under nitrogen), E100K0VA had the greatest amount of material left, 91.0% at 500 °C. This was not a result of the oxyacetylene flame test.
  • TGA material left for the phase-1 samples with the most filler: EPA-3 (asbestos) 29.6%, EPC-3 (carbon fiber) 29.3%, EPV-3 (vulkasil-C) 26.4%
  • Only a few phase-1 samples conducted electricity, with the highest conductivity in carbon fiber sample EPC-3; the other composites were electrical insulators
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that these composites, which they described as cheap and less hazardous, could be explored as candidates for improved EPDM-based thermal insulation, with E100K0VA performing best overall

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Thermal System Insulation (TSI).

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