Influence of Water Absorption on Volume Resistivity and the Dielectric Properties of Neat Epoxy Material

Abstract

Influence of Water Absorption on the Dielectric Properties and Volume Resistivity of Neat Epoxy Material Anwar Ali Sulaimani Epoxy resins are widely used materials in the industry as electrical insulators, adhesives and in aircrafts structural components because of their high mechanical sti ness, strength and high temperature and chemical resistance properties. But still, the in uence of water uptake due to moisture adsorption is not fully understood as it detrimentally modi es the electrical and chemical properties of the material. Here, we investigate the in uence of water moisture uptake on the neat epoxy material by monitoring the change in the volume resistivity and dielectric properties of epoxy material at three di erent thickness con gurations: 0.250 mm, 0.50 mm and 1 mm thicknesses. Gravimetric analysis was done to monitor the mass uptake behaviour, Volume Resistivity was measured to monitor the change in conductivity of the material, and the dielectric properties were mapped to characterise the type of water mechanism available within the material during two ageing processes of sorption and desorption. Two-stage behaviours of di usion and reaction have been identi ed by the mass uptake analysis. Moreover, the plot of volume resistivity versus mass uptake has indi- cated a non-uniform relationship between the two quantities. However, the analysis of the dielectric spectrum at medium range of frequency and time has showed a change 5 in the dipolar activities and also showed the extent to which the water molecules can be segregated between bounding to the resin or existing as free water.

Date of Award	Jul 15 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Physical Science and Engineering
Supervisor	Gilles Lubineau (Supervisor)