Effect of Nanofiller on the Mechanical Properties of Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites under Different Aging Conditions

Abstract

In this study, carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composites (CFRPs) containing multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and halloysite nanoclay were fabricated. The effects of these nanofillers (MWCNT and nanoclay) on the tensile and flexural properties of the CFRPs under different aging conditions were studied. These aging conditions included water soaking, acid soaking, alkali soaking, and thermal shock cycling. The experimental results showed that, after accelerated aging, the mechanical performance of the CFRPs decreased. The performance degradation in the soaking environment depends on the immersion temperature and immersion medium. High-temperature accelerated the aging behavior of the CFRPs, resulting in low strength and modulus. The CFRPs were more vulnerable to acid soaking and alkali soaking than water soaking. The MWCNT and halloysite nanoclay are beneficial to improve the immersion aging resistance of the CFRPs, and the additions of nanofillers delayed the performance degradation under immersion aging conditions. However, nanofillers hardly improve the aging resistance of the CFRPs under thermal shock cycling condition. The fracture morphologies were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to reflect the failure modes of the CFRPs under various aging conditions. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy tests were used to estimate the changes in the chemical structures and properties of epoxy resin and its composites under different conditions.

Investigation of effects of extreme environment conditions on multiwall carbon nanotube‐epoxy adhesive and adhesive joints

“…Due to water diffusion after humidity and salty aging, a decrease in T g after the aging process was observed. Those molecules can penetrate into the epoxy resin, acting as a plasticizer, permeating between resin chains, increasing its mobility and reducing T g. [ 44 ] The increased mobility of the chains after aging at 100°C also contributed to the reduction of T g compared to resin without aging as seen in Figure S4.…”

Effect of Carbon Nanofibers on the Strain Rate and Interlaminar Shear Strength of Carbon/Epoxy Composites

“…However, due to the rapid growth in the use of composite materials, they can be exposed to a range of corrosive environments and temperature variations during their service life, causing degradation of material properties and affecting their static stability and long-term durability [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Several immersion aging studies of CFRP composites immersed into water and acidic or alkaline solutions at different temperatures show that degradation adversely affects the mechanical properties and, according to thermal and mechanical analyses, ageing depends on the ageing temperature and the ageing medium, being more pronounced at higher temperatures, mainly in acidic conditions [ 29 , 30 ]. Uthaman et al [ 29 ] attributed the decreases in the properties of the composites to the degradation of the resin matrix and debonding at the fiber–resin interface.…”

“…Uthaman et al [ 29 ] attributed the decreases in the properties of the composites to the degradation of the resin matrix and debonding at the fiber–resin interface. On the other hand, Yang et al [ 30 ] showed that the addition of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) improves the ageing resistance of CFRPs due to good interfacial interaction and their high barrier property. Nanoclays, in turn, improve the ageing resistance of CFRPs due to their high aspect ratio and moderate interfacial adhesion.…”

Tensile Modulus of Polymer Halloysite Nanotube Systems Containing Filler–Interphase Networks for Biomedical Requests

“…We developed the Ouali model by consid- Recently, ceramic nanoparticles have attracted much interest in the academic research community [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Alumino-silicate and nanotubular HNT, for example, have the composition of Al 2 (OH) 4 Si 2 O 5 (2H 2 O) and few hydroxyl groups on their surface [30,[33][34][35][36][37]. They normally have a single-tube construct, which can be dispersed in any solvent medium because of siloxane and their few hydroxyl groups, which simplifies the distribution and development of hydrogen bonding [38].…”