Fabrication and Thermo-Electro and Mechanical Properties Evaluation of Helical Multiwall Carbon Nanotube-Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite Laminates

Abstract

The development of advanced composite materials has taken center stage because of its advantages over traditional materials. Recently, carbon-based advanced additives have shown promising results in the development of advanced polymer composites. The inter- and intra-laminar fracture toughness in modes I and II, along with the thermal and electrical conductivities, were investigated. The HMWCNTs/epoxy composite was prepared using a multi-dispersion method, followed by uniform coating at the mid-layers of the CF/E prepregs interface using the spray coating technique. Analysis methods, such as double cantilever beam (DCB) and end notched flexure (ENF) tests, were carried out to study the mode I and II fracture toughness. The surface morphology of the composite was analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The DCB test showed that the fracture toughness of the 0.2 wt.% and 0.4 wt.% HMWCNT composite laminates was improved by 39.15% and 115.05%, respectively, compared with the control sample. Furthermore, the ENF test showed that the mode II interlaminar fracture toughness for the composite laminate increased by 50.88% and 190%, respectively. The FESEM morphology results confirmed the HMWCNTs bridging at the fracture zones of the CF/E composite and the improved interlaminar fracture toughness. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results demonstrated a strong intermolecular bonding between the epoxy and HMWCNTs, resulting in an improved thermal stability. Moreover, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results confirmed that the addition of HMWCNT shifted the Tg to a higher temperature. An electrical conductivity study demonstrated that a higher CNT concentration in the composite laminate resulted in a higher conductivity improvement. This study confirmed that the demonstrated dispersion technique could create composite laminates with a strong interfacial bond interaction between the epoxy and HMWCNT, and thus improve their properties.

Enhancing the Mechanical Performance of Fiber‐Reinforced Polymer Composites Using Carbon Nanotubes as an Effective Nano‐Phase Reinforcement

“…[129] As mentioned earlier, optimal CNT contents can lead to the largest enhancement in the quasi-static tensile/flexural properties and interfacial properties of CNT-FRPs. Similarly, for [114,115,[118][119][120]). d) Effects of CNT functionalization on Interlaminar shear strength of CNT-FRPs (data from refs.…”

“…[53,55,59,62,92,114–117]), c) G Ic (data from refs. [114,115,118–120]). d) Effects of CNT functionalization on Interlaminar shear strength of CNT‐FRPs (data from refs.…”

“…of CNTs, up to a specific threshold level, has been found to improve the interfacial properties associated with an increased bridging effect. Such bridging by the CNTs is also affected by the CNTs' morphology [120,140] and their orientation. [41] Additionally, as Figure 10k shows, plastic deformation can cause the formation of voids around CNTs at their interface [117,150] Crack deflection and plastic void formation often occur simultaneously at the interface to elevate the toughness of the CNT-FPR composite.…”

Interlaminar properties of carbon nanotubes modified carbon fibre fabric reinforced polyimide composites

“…4 When they are subjected to complex loads, delamination caused by transverse matrix cracking and fibre-matrix interface debonding are prone to occur in the interlaminar region of the material. 5 This issue limits the further application of laminated composites.…”

Epoxy composite with high thermal conductivity by constructing 3D-oriented carbon fiber and BN network structure

“… 8,9 Usually, thermally conductive fillers, such as metals (Ag, 10,11 Cu, 12,13 Al 14,15 ), nitride (BN, 16–18 AlN, 19–21 Si 3 N 4 (ref. 22–24 )) and carbon materials (carbon nanotube, 25,26 carbon fiber, 27–30 graphene 31 ) are used to modify polymers for high thermal conductivity. However, it is difficult for particle fillers to achieve continuous thermal transport at low filler content, while the mechanical performance of polymer-based composite at high-filler loading will be changed and destroyed.…”