| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/P510191/1 |
| Title: |
INdustrial PROcessing of Nano Epoxies (INPRONE) |
| Principal Investigator: |
McNally, Professor T |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
WMG |
| Organisation: |
University of Warwick |
| Scheme: |
Technology Programme |
| Starts: |
01 July 2016 |
Ends: |
30 June 2017 |
Value (£): |
119,244
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Complex fluids & soft solids |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Epoxy resins find widespread application in industrial sectors as diverse as energy, electronics, infrastructure and automotive. They are ubiquitous for tooling applications and of particular interest is their use in the rapidly expanding composites manufacturing industry. However, there is a significant mismatch between the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the epoxy resin and reinforcing fillers currently used (e.g. carbon fibre/epoxy) which ultimately leads to relatively long manufacturing cycle times. Reducing the CTE of the epoxy to that of carbon fibre would result in significant reductions in composite manufacturing cycle time, enhanced thermal conductivity and further knock on effects of increased tool durability, dimensional stability, wear and abrasion resistance and chemical and moisture resistance. This would allow epoxy materials to compete with other leading tool materials (e.g. nickel iron alloy).
The high thermal conductivity of graphene and graphene like materials has been well documented however, the translation of this property to polymeric matrices, including epoxies has not been realised. This, in the main, is associated with the large contact resistance and poor connectivity between graphene sheets combined with poor dispersion and distribution of the graphene in the matrix. In this project, we propose to overcome these hurdles by the incorporation of hybrid filler systems, where functionalised graphenes (and graphene like materials) having different dimensions from nano to micro are effectively dispersed in the epoxy matrix. This will facilitate the formation of highly interconnected percolated networks of
graphene fillers with reduced contact resistance, increased thermal conductivity and ultimately less of a mismatch in CTE with CF composites.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.warwick.ac.uk |