Epoxy-based reflective adhesive for lamination of single-sided metallized film over glass fabric destined for its use as reflective layer in fire proximity clothing

The genre of the present work is related to adhesives, which has been realized as an integral component in the fabrication of outermost reflective laminates, which are destined for their use in fire proximity clothing. This aspect has not received much attention from researchers and has motivated us to investigate the potential of extensively available diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA)-based epoxy formulation as a laminating adhesive, where polyamide containing amine has been employed as a curing agent. The work is intended to adhere single-sided aluminized polyester film over glass fabric of satin weave pattern. It is to be noted that the singlesided metallized polyester film based reflective laminate loses its potential to reflect the radiant heat after abrasion damage. In view of the same, aluminium powder at 1, 3, and 5 wt.% loading has been incorporated in the optically clear layer of epoxy adhesive, with an aim to render reflective properties, which is expected to contribute in reflecting the radiant heat, after the abrasive damage. The influence of incorporating aluminium powder on the characteristics of adhesive has been investigated using techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature sweep rheological experiments, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and surface energy measurements. Further, the peel-adhesion strength of the formulations has been determined as per ASTM D1876 standard. The heat transmission in the developed reflective laminates on exposure to radiant heat has been studied. In addition, the heat transmission on exposure to flame has been investigated in the form of a multi-layer component assembly, and the charred regions have been analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis.