Comparison of two different carbon nanotubes-based hybrid multiscale composites with respect to mechanical and electrical properties

Abstract

Pristine and carboxylic acid functionalised carbon nanotubes (CNTs-P and CNTs-COOH) hybrid composites based on ultrasonically processed nanocomposite epoxy matrix have been prepared. The thermodynamic interactions between CNTs and epoxy components are evaluated through solution experiment. The measurements of mechanical properties and volume electrical resistivity are performed to characterise the structure-property interplay of CNTs hybrid composites. A 0.3 wt-% CNTs-COOH loading significantly enhances the glass transition temperatures (Tg) of the resultant hybrid composites. The re-agglomeration of CNTs-P has been ascribed to the thermodynamic and kinetic factors, which determine the morphological characteristics of CNTs within the overall composites. CNTs-P network enables a continuous conductive path to be present in the composites at lower CNTs-P concentration. An analysis of the effects of the functionalisation of CNTs on the structure and properties of their hybrid composites has been carried out.

Safe design fatigue life of CNT loaded woven GFRP laminates under fully reversible axial fatigue: application of two-parameters Weibull distribution

“…Works comprising initial dispersion of MWCNTs in a compatibilizer [7] followed by the addition of epoxy fetched homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles in the resin. A uniformly dispersed CNTs in epoxy not only increases static strength of polymer and polymer composites [15][16][17][18] but also adds to their tensile fatigue life cycles [7,10,[19][20][21][22][23][24]. In this context, Gojny et al [15] reported that the addition of 0.3 wt-% of CNTs in the matrix increased the ILSS of the FRP laminate by 20%, while Song [16] found that tough fibres such as Kevlar diminish the toughening effect of CNT reinforcement in multiscale composites.…”

“…In this context, Gojny et al [15] reported that the addition of 0.3 wt-% of CNTs in the matrix increased the ILSS of the FRP laminate by 20%, while Song [16] found that tough fibres such as Kevlar diminish the toughening effect of CNT reinforcement in multiscale composites. Wang and his associates [18] filled CFRP laminates with 0.075 wt-% of pristine and carboxyl-functionalised CNTs, respectively and observed that functionalised CNTs increased the ILSS of the modified laminates by 18.9% as against 8.3% imparted by the pristine one.…”