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Investigation of the flexural and thermomechanical properties of nanoclay/graphene reinforced carbon fiber epoxy composites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2019

Md Sarower Tareq
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama 36088, USA
S. Zainuddin*
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama 36088, USA
E. Woodside
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama 36088, USA
F. Syed
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama 36088, USA
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Flexural and thermomechanical properties of the epoxy-based carbon fiber composites (CFCs) on addition of single and binary nanoparticles (nanoclay and graphene) have been investigated. It was found that nanoclay acts more effectively in increasing the stiffness of the CFCs, whereas graphene is more effective in achieving higher strength. Nanoclay-added samples exhibited highest flexural (64.5 GPa) and storage (25.3 GPa) modulus among all types. Graphene-added samples showed highest improvement (by 21%) in flexural strength and exhibited most stable thermomechanical properties with highest energy dissipation capability (3.1 GPa loss modulus) in flexural test and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), respectively. By contrast, addition of binary nanoparticles reduced the stiffness and significantly increased the strain to failure (42%) of the composites. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy indicated that addition of nanoparticles significantly reduced delamination and matrix cracking of the CFCs because of strong interfacial bonding and toughened matrix, respectively.

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Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019 

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