Decoration of SiO2 and Fe3O4 Nanoparticles onto the Surface of MWCNT-Grafted Glass Fibers: A Simple Approach for the Creation of Binary Nanoparticle Hierarchical and Multifunctional Composite Interphases

Abstract

We report on a versatile method for chemically grafting multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) onto the surface of conventional glass fibers (GFs), as well as depositing further silica (SiO2) or superparamagnetic (SPM) magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) creating novel hierarchical reinforcements. The CNT-grafted GFs (GF-CNT) were utilized further as the support to decorate nano-sized SiO2 or Fe3O4 via electrostatic interactions, resulting finally into double hierarchy reinforcements. SiO2 NPs were first used as model nano-particulate objects to investigate the interfacial adhesion properties of binary coated GFs (denoted as GF-CNT/SiO2) in epoxy matrix via single fiber pull-out (SFPO) tests. The results indicated that the apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS or τapp) was significantly increased compared to the GF-CNT. Fe3O4 NPs were assembled also onto CNT-grafted GFs resulting into GF-CNT/Fe3O4. The fibers exhibited a magnetic response upon being exposed to an external magnet. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the surface morphologies of the different hierarchical fibers fabricated in this work. The interphase microstructure of GF-CNT and GF-CNT/SiO2 embedded in epoxy was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The hybrid and hierarchical GFs are promising multifunctional reinforcements with appr. 85% increase of the IFSS as compared to typical amino-silane modified GFs. It could be envisaged that, among other purposes, GF-CNT/Fe3O4 could be potentially recyclable reinforcements, especially when embedded in thermoplastic polymer matrices.

Enhanced Mechanical, Thermal and Antimicrobial Properties of Additively Manufactured Polylactic Acid with Optimized Nano Silica Content

“…As a filler in other composites' development, SiO 2 is used to achieve specific properties, such as microwave absorption [13]. Silica is also used in coatings [10,14], medicine [15,16], as a reinforcement material [17] and in applications aiming to improve the mechanical response of the polymer matrix [4,18,19]. All these applications and research usages of silica are related to traditional manufacturing processes, such as films production, blend mixing, casting, etc.…”

High-Performance Dental Composites Based on Hierarchical Reinforcements

“…Based on these results, a possible mechanism for the interface improvement of the hierarchical reinforcements with micro/nanostructures could be postulated: co-optimization of the chemical bonding and mechanical interlocking at the interface (Petousis et al 2020). Various hierarchical reinforcements based on ZnO NPs and ZnO NWs showed significant differences in the effect of interface modification.…”

Polyamide 12/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube and Carbon Black Nanocomposites Manufactured by 3D Printing Fused Filament Fabrication: A Comparison of the Electrical, Thermoelectric, and Mechanical Properties

“…Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon black (CB) nanoallotrope fillers are very commonly used with glass fibers [19] and polymer matrices to increase specific properties such as tensile strength [20], fracture toughness [21], electrical [22], thermal conductivity [23], etc. The resulting nanocomposites, defined as conductive polymer composites (CPCs) could offer a variety of functional properties, such as sensing functionalities, i.e., chemical and/or electrochemical sensors, temperature, piezo-resistive and piezoelectric touch/pressure sensors, etc.…”