Epoxy/Fly ash from Thermal Power Plant/Nanofiller Nanocomposite: Studies on Mechanical and Thermal Properties: A Review

A recent development in the field of eco-friendly, lightweight and high-performance nanocomposite and a broad range of their innovative applications attract enormous interest in the field of research. However, the search for lighter materials to replace legacy heavy materials in engineering structures especially in automobile and aerospace industries has made the study of tribological properties of epoxy resin based composites significant. Fly ash, from the thermal power plant, is an industrial by-product that can be utilized as filler in epoxy resin with different wt% owing to its distinctive properties like low density, wide availability, good filler factor, good thermal resistance, and glassy nature instead of dumping into the large area of landfills and ash ponds. This review article presents an expanded literature overview on the utilization of industrial waste fly ash, as reinforcement for matrix in making lightweight, high strength composites. In this investigation broaden literature groundwork also covers the effect of nanoparticles on thermal, morphological and mechanical characteristics such as impact strength, tensile strength and flexural strength of fly ash/epoxy nanocomposites.