Dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) resin has gained popularity owing to its fast curing time and ease of processing with a low viscosity in the monomer state. In the present study, the impact and shear properties of a carbon fiber (CF)/p-DCPD composite were investigated. The CF/p-DCPD composite was manufactured by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding with CF as the reinforcement and p-DCPD as the resin with a maximum fiber volume fraction of 55 weight percent. Impact and shear properties of the CF/p-DCPD composite were evaluated and compared with those of a CF/Epoxy composite. The maximum shear stress and modulus of the CF/p-DCPD composite were lower than that of the CF/Epoxy composite. However, the CF/p-DCPD composite had higher toughness than that of the CF/Epoxy composite; this indicates that it is tougher and exhibits a more ductile load-displacement response with a lower modulus and larger failure deformation. The impact strength of the CF/p-DCPD composite was about three time that of the CF/Epoxy composite. The higher impact strength of the CF/p-DCPD composite is attributed to the resin characteristics: epoxy resin has a more brittle behavior, and hence, higher energy is required for crack propagation due to fracture.

In the present study, the difference of long carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (C-LFT) depending on the type of polymer resins at the same carbon fiber content (30 wt.%) was compared. The different types of C-LFT were made using five polymer resins such as polyamide 6, polyamide 6,6, polycarbonate, high density polyethylene and polypropylene. Tensile test, flexural test, and unnotched Izod impact test were carried out and the cause of difference in the mechanical properties was considered by analyzing the adhesion characteristics. Fracture appearance and work of adhesion between the fiber and the resin were observed. In addition, the difference and its cause in electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) was investigated. From the results, the polyamide 6 is most appropriate to the carbon fiber among the samples in the aspects of interfacial shear strength and fiber dispersion.

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A novel PVA/clay (MMT) film is prepared for the first time based on the saponification of the PVAc/MMT film in the presence of heterogeneous conditions. With the help of optical microscopy, the characteristics and surface morphology of the saponified PVA/MMT film is confirmed. It is found to contain black MMT nanoparticles in PVAc films as the content of MMT increased. According to atomic force microscopy results, PVAc/MMT films shows unexpected surface roughness owing to the slow progress of the saponification reaction in the presence of MMT contents in the PVAc matrix. The thermal stability of the PVA/MMT film is measured using thermal gravimetric analyses. The results indicate that thermal stability increases significantly when the MMT concentration increases. The entire structure of the PVA/MMT nanocomposite has been elucidated using XRD. To prove the differences between the PVAc/MMT and the PVA/MMT films, XRD measurements and Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy analyses are utilized.

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