Aligned carbon nanotube composite belts stitching of laminated composites for enhanced fracture toughness and enriched functionalities

Abstract

Realizing the full potential of advanced fiber reinforced polymeric composites has been impeded by their weak interlaminar performance. Herein, a wholethrough-thickness stitching strategy was proposed to address this key challenge by using ultrathin, high performance aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) composite belts as stitching sutures. During the fabrication of aligned CNT composite belts, the as-made CNT belts that consist of randomly orientated CNTs were firstly stretched before resin infiltration. It has been found that the tensile strength and modulus of aligned CNT composite belts reached 1126.9 MPa and 56.2 GPa, with an improvement of 227.9% and 726.5% than those of unstretched composite belts, respectively. After stitching, the Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness and through-thickness electrical conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced laminated composites was enhanced by 138.7% and 426.7%, respectively, which was mainly due to the bridging effect of strong and conducting CNT belts. In addition, the interlaminar crack propagations can be in situ monitored by tracking the resistance variation of the stitched laminates under loading. Thus, this stitching strategy provides an effective approach to not only enhance the structural performance of fiber reinforced polymeric composites, but also enrich their functionalities.

Polymer composites–Special issue review for additive manufacturing of composites

“…This issue is highlighted by several review articles detailing recent advances in the additive manufacturing technology space including advances in the area of smart materials, 1 coatings of bio-polymer systems, 2 applications with natural materials for the matrix and the fiber, 3 recent advances in the performance of fiber filled polymer systems for the FFF process. 4 Papers in this special issue range from the use of bio and bio-inspired materials, 2,3,5-12 materials and material systems that benefit from nanoscale enhancements, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] advances in the medical field, [24][25][26] additive material systems utilizing thermosets, [27][28][29] large scale additive manufacturing, [30][31][32] and some rather novel applications in AM. 1,[33][34][35] Several articles focus on improvements for characterization, [36][37][38][39] and quite a few seek to identify parameters to enhance the final part performance through processing improvements.…”

“…CNTs, graphene, and other similarly scaled systems. Several authors 13,14,20,21 enhance the final part performance through the integration of CNTs, with Li et al 14 enhancing fracture toughness, Han et al 20,21 focusing on processing enhancements, and Kessaissia et al 13 looking at the nanoscale to better understand interfacial properties between the CNTs and the surrounding matrix. Several authors focus on enhancements using nanoparticles beyond classical structural improvements, with Relinque et al 18 increasing the conductivity of an ABS system, Aktitiz et al 19 modify the polymer matrix with Fe 2 O 3…”

“…A continual focus for advancing additive manufacturing is through the use of nano‐scale materials, such as CNTs, graphene, and other similarly scaled systems. Several authors 13,14,20,21 enhance the final part performance through the integration of CNTs, with Li et al 14 enhancing fracture toughness, Han et al 20,21 focusing on processing enhancements, and Kessaissia et al 13 looking at the nanoscale to better understand interfacial properties between the CNTs and the surrounding matrix. Several authors focus on enhancements using nanoparticles beyond classical structural improvements, with Relinque et al 18 increasing the conductivity of an ABS system, Aktitiz et al 19 modify the polymer matrix with Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles to improve the mechanical, magnetic and thermal properties, and Brooks et al 23 enhance the conductivity for biodegradable polymers for direct ink applications using a graphite material.…”

Aminated carbon nanotube enhanced composite T‐joints mediating CFRP load‐bearing capacity improvement

“…CNT exhibits its potential as an effective adhesive material due to its high strength and bonding performance. [23][24][25] C-C covalent bond results in high tensile strength, and the large surface area of carbon nanotube guaranteed the adhesion with surrounding material. [26][27][28] Nevertheless, research in the application of CNT modified epoxy resin adhesive agent in CFRP forcebearing structure is relatively limited.…”

“…CNT exhibits its potential as an effective adhesive material due to its high strength and bonding performance 23–25 . C‐C covalent bond results in high tensile strength, and the large surface area of carbon nanotube guaranteed the adhesion with surrounding material 26–28 .…”