Study on the Effects of Diluent on Silica/Epoxy Resin Composite Material Phase Change

This study investigates the resulting nanocomposite material formed by hot-forming and molding epoxy resin containing diluent, nanosilica powder, and hardener. The effects of different processing conditions on the composite material, such as post-processing, nanopowder content, thinner amount, etc. The optimal processing conditions can be discovered by analyzing samples with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) to discern the glass transition temperature (Tg). Experimental results show that without post-processing, the composite material would not have enough reaction time, and that without thinner, the sample containing 1 wt% nanopowder had the highest Tg. The addition of thinner lowers the Tg of a sample, leading to reduced thermal properties.