PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SLAG REINFORCED TOUGHENED EPOXY COMPOSITES

Abstract

The current investigation reports the influence of siliconized slag powder on the mechanical properties of epoxy composites. At first, the received slag was crushed and milled followed by sieve analysis. The chemical composition of the slag waste of the steel-making process was inspected using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). Second, the treated slag was mixed with silicone rubber at high speed to produce siliconized slag. Then slag with and without silicon was incorporated into epoxy resin to produce epoxy composites, and mixing was done at the high-speed mixer. The mix was poured into Teflon-coated molds and allowed to harden for 3 days at room temperature. The mechanical performance of the prepared composites was inspected. Chemical functional groups and molecular
structure were analysed with attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR). The samples were examined with a Scanning electron microscope associated with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX). Such a technique was used to obtain an idea of the fracture mode and the dispersion pattern of slag powder within the matrix and the chemical composition of the slag.