Study on the heat transfer reinforcement of glass fiber/epoxy resin composites by grafting and dispersing graphene oxide

Abstract The grafted-graphene oxide/glass fiber/epoxy resin (grafted-GO/GF/EP) and dispersed-graphene oxide/glass fiber/epoxy resin (dispersed-GO/GF/EP) composites were successfully prepared by grafting graphene oxide (GO) on glass fiber (GF) with coupling agent and random dispersion of GO. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was employed to characterize the micro structure. The heat transfer RVE models of the grafted-GO/GF/EP and dispersed-GO/GF/EP composites were established respectively. Based on RVE heat transfer simulation model, the heat transfer characteristics of the grafted-GO/GF/EP and dispersed-GO/GF/EP composites were analyzed. The results show that under the condition of 0.1 vol% GO content and heated for 60 s, the thermal conductivities of dispersed-GO/GF/EP and grafted-GO/GF/EP composites are increased by 3.48% and 82.37% respectively. The dispersion of GO increases the heat transfer paths in EP and forms a connected GO-GO heat transfer network. However, with the increasing of GO content, the agglomeration of GO becomes more obvious. The dispersion and interfacial bonding of the GO/GF/EP composites were improved by coupling agent, which effectively reduced the interfacial thermal resistance and significantly improved the thermal conductivity of the composites.