Nanomechanical characterization of single-walled carbon nanotube reinforced epoxy composites

Li, Xiaodong; Gao, Hongsheng; Scrivens, Wally A.; Fei, Dongling; Xu, Xiaoyou; Sutton, Michael A.; Reynolds, Anthony P.; Myrick, Michael L.

doi:10.1088/0957-4484/15/11/005

Cited by 210 publications

(127 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(71 reference statements)

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“…Zhu et al [17,18] presented stress-strain curves for neat epoxy in which nonlinearity was shown at 3 per cent strain. Li et al [19] presented similar effects with a load-displacement curve of neat epoxy. Sun et al [20] and Gojny et al [64] also indicated 3 per cent strain as the onset of nonlinearity in neat epoxy.…”

Section: (I) Nonlinear Properties Of Carbon Nanotubesmentioning

confidence: 66%

Estimation of the physical properties of nanocomposites by finite-element discretization and Monte Carlo simulation

Spanos

Elsbernd

Ward

et al. 2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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This paper reviews and enhances numerical models for determining thermal, elastic and electrical properties of carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer composites. For the determination of the effective stress–strain curve and thermal conductivity of the composite material, finite-element analysis (FEA), in conjunction with the embedded fibre method (EFM), is used. Variable nanotube geometry, alignment and waviness are taken into account. First, a random morphology of a user-defined volume fraction of nanotubes is generated, and their properties are incorporated into the polymer matrix using the EFM. Next, incremental and iterative FEA approaches are used for the determination of the nonlinear properties of the nanocomposite. For the determination of the electrical properties, a spanning network identification algorithm is used. First, a realistic nanotube morphology is generated from input parameters defined by the user. The spanning network algorithm then determines the connectivity between nanotubes in a representative volume element. Then, interconnected nanotube networks are converted to equivalent resistor circuits. Finally, Kirchhoff's current law is used in conjunction with FEA to solve for the voltages and currents in the system and thus calculate the effective electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite. The model accounts for electrical transport mechanisms such as electron hopping and simultaneously calculates percolation probability, identifies the backbone and determines the effective conductivity. Monte Carlo analysis of 500 random microstructures is performed to capture the stochastic nature of the fibre generation and to derive statistically reliable results. The models are validated by comparison with various experimental datasets reported in the recent literature.

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Section: (I) Nonlinear Properties Of Carbon Nanotubesmentioning

confidence: 66%

Estimation of the physical properties of nanocomposites by finite-element discretization and Monte Carlo simulation

Spanos

Elsbernd

Ward

et al. 2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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“…All of the 3 nanocarbons improve the mechanical properties of PVA markedly, addition of SWNT enhancing H by Ϸ7 times and E by an order of magnitude. These enhancements are observed even with the addition of 0.2 wt% SWNT, the properties reaching a plateau on further increase in the SWNT content, probably due to the bundling of SWNTs at higher reinforcement content (11). Such bundling could reduce the effective interaction volume.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…There is a limited number of studies of nanotubepolymer composites, and they generally involve high reinforcement content (1,2,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). Furthermore, many of the, studies pertain to composites reinforced by multiwalled carbon nanotubes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These workers did not observe any increase in crystallinity and attributed the enhancement in mechanical properties to the homogeneous distribution of fillers in the matrix. Zhang et al (13) examined composites of PVA with KOH-treated SWNTs and report that H and E increase by 78% and 110%, respectively, whereas Li et al (11) report 30% and 75% increases for the 5 wt% SWNT-epoxy composite. These workers observe that intercalation of the nanotubes is the cause for relatively poor enhancement in mechanical properties.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extraordinary synergy in the mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites reinforced with 2 nanocarbons

Prasad

Das²,

Maitra³

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

273

190

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One of the applications of nanomaterials is as reinforcements in composites, wherein small additions of nanomaterials lead to large enhancements in mechanical properties. There have been extensive studies in the literature on composites where a polymer matrix is reinforced by a single nanomaterial such as carbon nanotubes. In this article, we examine the significant synergistic effects observed when 2 different types of nanocarbons are incorporated in a polymer matrix. Thus, binary combinations of nanodiamond, fewlayer graphene, and single-walled nanotubes have been used to reinforce polyvinyl alcohol. The mechanical properties of the resulting composites, evaluated by the nanoindentation technique, show extraordinary synergy, improving the stiffness and hardness by as much as 400% compared to those obtained with single nanocarbon reinforcements. These results suggest a way of designing advanced materials with extraordinary mechanical properties by incorporating small amounts of 2 nanomaterials such as graphene plus nanodiamond or nanodiamond plus carbon nanotube.binary combinations ͉ nanoindentation technique ͉ polyvinyl alcohol ͉ synergistic effects A mong the many unique attributes of nanomaterials, especially noteworthy are their large surface to volume ratios and outstanding mechanical properties. These properties offer venues for exciting areas of research as well as for technological innovations. Thus, an important use of nanomaterials is in reinforcing polymer matrices taking advantage of the ultra-high stiffness and hardness exhibited by them. Recent research has shown that small additions (up to Ϸ1 wt%) of certain nanomaterials such as carbon nanaotubes enhance the mechanical properties markedly, sometimes by as much as 100% (1-8). Although the precise mechanism responsible for this dramatic enhancement is not entirely understood, it is generally believed that molecular level interactions between the nanomaterials and polymer matrices play a major role. The large interface area available for such interactions clearly hold the key for the dramatic enhancement in mechanical properties.Of the variety of nanomaterials synthesized and characterized in recent years, nanocarbons of different dimentionalities are of particular interest, as exemplified by nanodiamond, nanotubes and graphene with dimensionalities of 0, 1, and 2, respectively (1-3). Extensive research has been carried out on the mechanical properties of composites made of polymer matrices with 1 of the nanocarbons as the reinforcement phase (1-8). We would expect the nature of interaction of the nanocarbon constituent with the matrix to vary with the dimensionality. For example, carbon nanotubes added to a polymer can interact over the length of the polymer chain whereas a nanodiamond particle can interact only at a point, possibly at the ends of a polymer chain. While each of the nanocarbons improves the mechanical properties of the polymer matrix, we felt intuitively that incorporation of 2 nanocarbons could lead to synergistic effects in the m...

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“…SiO 2 beads may work as excellent barriers to prevent boron belts from straightly pulling out from surrounding matrix, as commonly seen in carbon nanotube strengthened nanocomposites. 9 …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-assembled composite nano-/micronecklaces with SiO2 beads in boron strings

2006

Applied Physics Letters

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Nano-/micronecklaces with SiO2 beads in boron strings were synthesized by simply sublimating the desired powders in a sealed quartz tube at high temperature. The boron strings have a rectangular cross section with width varying from 80to1000nm while the SiO2 beads bear either spindle or spherical shape with a size ranging from 100nmto5μm. The spacing between the SiO2 beads is uniform in each boron string. Both the boron strings and the SiO2 beads are amorphous and free of defects. The supersaturated vapors of silicon and oxygen induced the SiO2 bead formation.

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Nanomechanical characterization of single-walled carbon nanotube reinforced epoxy composites

Cited by 210 publications

References 47 publications

Estimation of the physical properties of nanocomposites by finite-element discretization and Monte Carlo simulation

Estimation of the physical properties of nanocomposites by finite-element discretization and Monte Carlo simulation

Extraordinary synergy in the mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites reinforced with 2 nanocarbons

Self-assembled composite nano-/micronecklaces with SiO2 beads in boron strings

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