Effect of SiC and ZnO Nanoparticles on UV Absorbance and Heat Transfer of PET Composite Film

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles were compounded with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by using a twin screw extruder, and their effect on the UV absorption and heat transfer in PET/ZnO and PET/SiC composite films was investigated. The presence of ZnO and SiC in the PET matrix was verified by X-ray diffraction. The UV absorbance of both PET/ZnO and PET/SiC composite films increased with increasing particle content. The UV absorbance of PET/SiC was higher than that of PET/ZnO under the same particle content. A thermal imaging camera was used to analyze the heat transfer in PET/ZnO and PET/SiC composite films after heating them to 40 °C. As the content of ZnO and SiC particles increased, the temperature decreased more rapidly. PET/SiC showed faster cooling than PET/ZnO because of the higher thermal conductivity of SiC compared to that of ZnO. Response temperature surfaces for PET/ZnO and PET/SiC were obtained by using an exponential decay function and a second order equation, and the elapsed times to cool to room temperature were estimated.