Application of halloysite in fabrication of composite materials for energy absorption
Małgorzata Głuszek, Agnieszka Antosik, Radosław Żurowski, Mikołaj Szafran
Quarterly No. 2, 2015 pages 61-65
DOI:
keywords: STF (shear thickening fluids), viscosity, halloysite, nanosilica, poly(propylene glycol), energy absorption, ceramic-polymer composites
abstract This work is devoted to the development of the composition as well as analysis of the rheological properties of shear thickening fluids (STF) based on pure halloysite (mineral from aluminosilicates group; H) and silica (SF14) doped halloysite dispersed in various organic liquids. The objective of this study was to form an intelligent composite using aluminosilicate tubes to dissipate energy and verify the applicability of the final suspensions to produce liquid armor. Halloysite is considered cheaper and more environmental friendly than pure SiO2 for STF production. Herein, we present studies concerning the effects of the molecular weight of poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) and modified aluminosilicate by mixing in ethanol with a carrier fluid. We also report that the fabrication of STF with silica doped halloysite leads to novel organic/inorganic composite materials with unprecedented protection properties. By analyzing the results obtained from the study, it was concluded that the liquids with modified halloysite as a dopant of 1, 3, 5 and 10 vol.% solid phase had a higher viscosity than the reference liquid based only on nanosilica. The fluid with the most favorable rheological properties is the slurry based on nanosilica with 1 vol.% halloysite (previously mixed with EtOH and PPG 725) dispersed in a poly(propylene glycol) of 725 g/mol molecular weight. The maximum shear thickening value of this liquid equaled 557 Pa∙s at a shear rate of 7.8 s‒1. In the final step of the research, a knife penetration resistance test was performed. It was observed that the protective properties of p-aramid fabrics interleaved with STF based on pure SF14 powder and doped with halloysite are comparable. Thus, synthetic nanosilica can be partially replaced.