The Effect of Cellulose Nanocrystal Coatings on the Glass Fiber–Epoxy Interphase

Abstract

This study focuses on understanding the effect of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) on glass fiber/epoxy interfacial interactions. The glass fibers (GF) were coated with solutions containing cellulose nanomaterial. The parameters that were investigated were the CNC surface chemistry, concentration, and dispersing medium, i.e., aqueous solution only versus emulsions. To determine the effect of the CNC coatings on the interfacial adhesion, specimens of a single GF in an epoxy matrix were prepared for GF coating by varying the coating formulations. The interfacial shear stress (IFSS) was determined by the single fiber fragmentation test (SFFT). Following the SFFT, the samples were investigated by cross-polarized microscopy in order to understand the fracture modes which are related to the nature of the interphase. According to the SFFT data and photoelastic fracture patterns, both the emulsion and aqueous coatings containing cellulose nanocrystals functionalized with methyl(triphenyl) phosphonium (CNCPh) improve the IFSS in comparison to coated GFs without CNCs.

High performance multiscale glass fibre epoxy composites integrated with cellulose nanocrystals for advanced structural applications

“…These bridging/crack healing effects suppress the localised interlaminar delamination and reduced the interlaminar stress concentration between the neighbouring layers, thus providing improved interlaminar adhesion that governs the flexural strength. Uniform dispersion of nanofillers reported to be very critical to the interfacial strength, the aggregation of nanoparticles in the matrix or interfacial area leads to stress concentration that reduces the strength of interface[35][36][37].Another potential chemical interaction mechanism that possibly contribute to better interlaminar adhesion likely the presence of hydroxyl groups on the surface of CNC which can interact with GF via hydrogen bonding and open the epoxy epoxide ring to form covalent bonding[18,31,38]. Surprisingly, CNC/GFRP composites showedsignificant enhancement in the flexural modulus while tensile modulus is affected to a lesser extent.…”

Roles of paper composition and humidity on the adhesion between paper sheet and glass: a molecular dynamics study

“…As a relevant experiment, Goswami et al discuss the adhesion between cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and glass fiber/epoxy composite. (Goswami 2019) Authors show that the CNC enhances the interfacial shear strength in glass fiber/epoxy composites due to interphase toughening with interpenetrating network formation. However, they did not consider a paper sheet which is a complex entanglement of cellulose microfibrils, nor the pure glass structure.…”

Lightweight polyester composites via nanoreinforced syntactic foams

“…12,18,19 Prior work on coating fibers with CNCs has shown significant promise. 20,21 Others have also explored using CNC in conjunction with silanes to enhance surface properties of glass substrates. 14,20,21 Translating the processing technology from fibers and planar substrates to hollow glass spheres will pose a challenge.…”

“…20,21 Others have also explored using CNC in conjunction with silanes to enhance surface properties of glass substrates. 14,20,21 Translating the processing technology from fibers and planar substrates to hollow glass spheres will pose a challenge. Very limited work has been done in the literature on coating hollow particles for syntactic foams with nanomaterials.…”