Multifunctional Characteristics of Glass Fiber‐Reinforced Epoxy Polymer Composites with Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Buckypaper Interlayer

Abstract

In this work, multiwalled carbon nanotube buckypaper (MWCNT‐BP) was inserted at the middle‐plane of glass fiber/epoxy resin prepregs to obtain three‐phase nanostructured composite. Preliminary tests conducted by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) revealed that the proposed curing cycle to prepare the laminates in a hot compression‐molding machine was appropriated. The mechanical properties of the BP‐based composite studied by short beam shear and compression shear tests presented no improvements compared to the base laminate. On the other hand, the thermal properties of the nanostructured composite improved as demonstrated by dynamical mechanical analyses and TGA. Besides, the reflectivity results revealed an average value of −12.2 dB in the X‐band with a maximum attenuation of 99.4% of the incident wave at 9.5 GHz. The improvements in both thermal and electromagnetic properties demonstrate the potential for both structural and multifunctional applications of the obtained BP‐composite. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 60:740–751, 2020. © 2020 Society of Plastics Engineers

The influence of carbon nanotube buckypaper/poly (ether imide) mats on the thermal properties of poly (ether imide) and poly (aryl ether ketone)/carbon fiber laminates

“…PEI and PAEK-base composites with BP presented a reduction in thermal stability, a fact that may be associated with the low permeability of the CNT film. As previously discussed in the literature [74], the through-thickness permeability of the BP is around 10 − 17 to 10 − 19 m 2 , which is 4-6 orders of magnitude lower than conventional fiber reinforcements. The small pore size of the CNT film (100-200 nm) was not large enough to allow the polymers to efficiently flow to inside the CNT structure, weakening the interfacial adhesion of the composite, which revealed a worst thermal degradation performance of the laminates compared to BP/PEI samples.…”

“…It is worth mentioning that the PEI semipreg presented a T i of 470 • C. These values demonstrate the excellent thermal stability of the material. According to the literature [72][73][74], the PEI decomposition occurs mainly due to the imide group's division and the methyl groups of the isopropylidene unit on the part of the bisphenol A, which contains the most unstable hydrogen atoms (H). The degradation of the material results in the formation of a wide variety of products, such as aromatic and aliphatic ketones, anhydrides, and hydroxyls.…”

Morphological, mechanical, and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness characteristics of glass fiber/epoxy resin/MWCNT buckypaper composites

“…However, in this work, the storage modulus remained almost constant for all samples compared to the base laminate. As detailed in our previous work, 70 F I G U R E 6 Cross section views of (a-b) GF/EP; (c) GF/EP/BP/PF-1; (d) GF/EP/BP/PF-3; (e) GF/EP/BP/ RPF-1, and (f) GF/EP/BP/RPF-3 laminates [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] the low intrinsic permeability of CNT film, the incorporation of PF, and the high viscosity of the thermoset resin 66,67 can have made difficult the enhancement of the storage modulus of both BP/PF and BP/RPF composites, thus revealing no significant modifications in the E'of the BP composites. The T g of the laminates is obtained from the tan δ peak (Figure 7).…”

Superior EMI shielding effectiveness with enhanced electrical conductivity at low percolation threshold of flexible novel ethylene methyl acrylate/single‐walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites

“…Multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) have been extensively used as reinforcements due to their relatively low cost and easy availability. [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] However, a minimal study has been done on singlewalled CNTs (SWCNTs), [43][44][45][46][47][48][49] whereas there is almost no work to date on SWCNT reinforced flexible ethylene methyl acrylate (EMA) polymer matrix nanocomposites.…”