A study on mechanical and dielectric properties of B4C and Al dispersed single-layered epoxy-based polymer composites fabricated through molding and curing route

The work aims in developing epoxy composites with different compositions of boron carbide (5, 10, 15, and 20 wt.%) added with aluminium (10 wt %) for studying the mechanical and dielectric behavior. It was found that the tensile strength of the samples initially increased with an increase in reinforcements and then decreased with an increase in B4C content beyond 10 wt. %. Flexural strength, on the other hand, increased with the addition of B4C particles. Moreover, the impact strength of the samples decreased with an increase in the addition of the B4C particles. The dielectric properties were studied by considering various factors like temperature and frequency. The samples were subjected to frequencies 100Hz, 1kHz, 10kHz, 100kHz, and 1MHz, and temperatures ranged from 40oC to 150oC. As a result, it was found that the dielectric loss factor was increased with increasing temperature. Further, at higher frequencies, an increase in the dielectric constant and a decrease in the dielectric loss factor were evidenced which concluded the material's suitability for energy storage applications.