Development and Characterization of MWCNT/EPDM Based Composite as a Thermal Insulator for High Thermal Applications

Thermal insulators based on ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM) is an effective class of extreme temperature thermal insulators due to their outstanding heat, mechanical and ablative characteristics. This classed insulator is often reinforced by Kevlar pulp and fumed silica. Ammonium sulfate and antimony trioxide combination have been added as a flame retardant. To improve the elastomer ablative characteristics, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were added. We have studied different MWCNT concentrations. In this work, we investigated the effect of the MWCNTs content on the characteristics of the selected insulating formulation based on EPDM. The maximum improvement of tensile strength was 60%. Thermal stability increased by 27% through thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA-DTG), while the ablation resistivity was significantly increased by 60%. The weight loss of the 10 phr MWCNT sample decreased by 40% compared with that of the neat sample. Besides, an increase in ablation rate by 60% was recorded with the same sample.