Evaluation of the morphology and mechanical properties of laminated composites based on epoxy, cork and glass microspheres

ABSTRACT In this work, epoxy polymer composites laminated with cork and hollow glass microspheres were developed. The laminated composites were manually made and evaluated for the morphological characteristics of the scanning electron microscope and the influence of the incorporation of the fillers was evaluated by means of density and flexural strength. In general, good dispersion of both the cork powder and the hollow glass microspheres was observed in the central layers of the sheet, but the cork-based cores presented better adhesion to the matrix. It was also observed the reduction in the density of all the composites with respect to the pure matrix and that the flexural modulus of cork-based composites and those with hollow microspheres of glass, even with close values, were superior to modulus of bending of the pure epoxy system. Core laminates with cork incorporation may be applied as an alternative where weight reduction is required and also where there is the expectation of bending stresses higher than those supported by the pure resin.

摘要
本研究制备了添加软木粉与空心玻璃微珠的层压环氧聚合物基复合材料。所有层压复合材料均采用手工制备工艺，通过扫描电子显微镜（Scanning Electron Microscope）表征其微观形貌特征，并借助密度与弯曲强度测试，评估填料添加对材料性能的影响。
总体而言，软木粉与空心玻璃微珠在板材中间层均实现了良好分散，其中软木基芯材与基体的界面粘结性能更优。研究同时发现，相较于纯环氧基体，所有复合材料的密度均有所降低；且软木基复合材料与空心玻璃微珠增强复合材料的弯曲模量数值相近，二者均优于纯环氧体系的弯曲模量。
添加软木的芯层压材料可作为替代方案，应用于需要减轻重量且需承受高于纯树脂所能承载弯曲应力的场景。