INVESTIGATION ON THE SYNERGETIC EFFECTS OF CARBON NANOTUBE AND GRAPHENE OXIDE ON CARBON FIBER REINFORCED EPOXY PREPREG COMPOSITES

Enhancement of electrical properties of carbon fiber reinforced (CFR) epoxy matrix composites was aimed by incorporating varying amounts (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 15 wt% -percentage by weight) of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) into the resin. Besides, within these CNP percentages, carbon nanotube (CNT) to graphene oxide (GO) composition ratio was also changed (100:0, 80:20, 50:50, 20:80, and 0:100) in order to investigate the synergy between these two type of CNPs. Carbon/epoxy composites were produced via prepregging technique, followed by compression molding method. The change in electrical conductivity of the composites was examined in three directions: Fiber direction, transverse direction, and through-thickness direction. Additionally, mechanical property investigation was carried out by determining the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of composites by conducting short beam shear tests (SBS). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses were performed for morphology investigation and element characterization of the CNP surfaces. The results revealed up to 5.8, 217, and 34 fold increases in conductivity values in fiber, transverse, and thickness directions, respectively, when compared to that of the neat composite. Also, approximately twofold ILSS value was reached by CNP addition.

___

  • Tuakta C. 2005. Use of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite in Bridge Structures (Master’s thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts, Boston.
  • Autar, KK. 2006. Mechanics of Composite Materials. Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Sanjay KM. 2001. Composites Manufacturing: Materials, Product, and Process Engineering. CRC PRESS.
  • Smallman RE, Bishop RJ. 1999. Modern Physical Metallurgy and Materials Engineering. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
  • Taherian R, Kausar A. 2018. Electrical Conductivity in Polymer-Based Composites Experiments, Modelling, and Applications. Elsevier.
  • TS EN ISO 2076:2014; Tekstil- Yapay lifler - Grup isimleri (ISO 2076:2013). ANKARA: Türk Standartları Enstitüsü.
  • Agarwal BD, Broutman LJ, Chandrashekhara K. 2006. Analysis and Performance of Fiber Composites. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Goldstain A. 1997. Handbook of Nanophase Materials. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc.
  • Rao CNR, Müller A, Cheetham AK. 2005. The Chemistry of Nanomaterials Volume 1. Weinheim: WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KgaA.
  • Miller JC, Serrato R, RepresasCardenas JM, Kundahl G. 2004. The Handbook of Nanotechnology. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  • Liveri VT. 2006. Controlled Synthesis of Nanoparticles in Microheterogeneous Systems. USA: Springer.
  • Pérez J, Bax L, Escolano C. 2005. NRM Nanoroadmap Project: Roadmap Report on Nanoparticles. Willems & van den Willenberg (W&W): Spain.
  • Neto AH, Guinea F, Peres NMR. 2006. Drawing conclusions from graphene. Physic World, 19-33.
  • Sharifzadeh M. 2006. Nanotechnology Sector Report, Cronus Capital Markets.
  • Ma PC, Siddiqui NA, Marom G, Kim JK. 2010. Dispersion and functionalization of carbon nanotubes for polymer-based nanocomposites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 41, 1345-1367.
  • Lonjon A, Demont P, Dantras E, Lacabanne C. 2012. Electrical conductivity improvement of aeronautical carbon fiber reinforced polyepoxy composites by insertion of carbon nanotubes. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 358(15), 1859-1862.
  • Sawi IE, Olivier PA, Demont P, Bougherara H. 2012. Processing and electrical characterization of a unidirectional CFRP composite filled with double walled carbon nanotubes. Composites Science and Technology 73, 19-26.
  • Qin W, Vautard F, Drzal LT, Yu J. 2015. Mechanical and electrical properties of carbon fiber composites with incorporation of graphene nanoplatelets at the fiber–matrix interphase. Composites: Part B 69, 335–340.
  • Imran KA, Shivakumar KN. 2019. Graphene-modified carbon/epoxy nanocomposites: Electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. Journal of Composite Materials 53(1), 93-106.
  • Acar V. 2013. Karbon İplik Dolgulu Termoset Film Kompozitlerde Ara yüzey Çalışmaları (Master’s thesis). Atatürk Üniversitesi, Erzurum.
  • Shekar KC, Prasad BA, Prasad NE. 2014. Interlaminar shear strength of multi-walled carbon nanotube and carbon fiber reinforced, epoxy - matrix hybrid composite. Procedia Materials Science 6, 1336-1343.
  • Wang P-N ,Hsieh T-H,Chiang C-L, Shen M-Y. 2015. Synergetic Effects of Mechanical Properties on Graphene Nanoplatelet and Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Hybrids Reinforced Epoxy/Carbon Fiber Composites. Journal of Nanomaterials Article ID 838032, 9 pages, DOI: 10.1155/2015/838032.
  • Han S, Meng Q, Pan X, Liu T, Zhang S, Wang Y, Haridy S, Araby S. 2019. Synergistic effect of graphene and carbon nanotube on lap shear strength and electrical conductivity of epoxy adhesives. J. Appl. Polym. Sci 136(42), https://doi.org/10.1002/app.48056.
  • Yue L, Pircheraghi G, Monemian SA, Manas-Zloczower I. 2014. Epoxy composites with carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplatelets – Dispersion and synergy effect. Carbon 78, 268-278.
  • Ghaleb ZA, Mariatti M, Ariff ZM. 2017. Synergy effects of graphene and multiwalled carbon nanotubes hybrid system on properties of epoxy nanocomposites. Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 36(9), 685-695.
  • Yavari F, Chen L, Zandiatashbar A, Yu Z, Koratkar N. 2012. Synergy Derived by Combining Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes as Nanofillers in Composites. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 12(4), 3165-3169.
  • Qi Z, Tan Y, Zhang Z, Gao L, Zhang C, Tian J. 2018. Synergistic effect of functionalized graphene oxide and carbon nanotube hybrids on mechanical properties of epoxy composites. RSC Adv 8, 38689-38700.
  • Qin W, Chen C, Zhou J, Meng J. 2020. Synergistic Effects of Graphene/Carbon Nanotubes Hybrid Coating on the Interfacial and Mechanical Properties of Fiber Composites. Materials 13(1457), doi:10.3390/ma13061457.
  • Laachachi A, Vivet A, Nouet G, Doudou BB, Poilâne C, Chen J, Bo bai J, Ayachi M. 2008. A chemical method to graft carbon nanotubes onto a carbon fiber. Materials Letters, 62, 394–397.
  • Kumar KV, Safiulla M, Ahmed K. 2012. Influence Of Utm Testing Speed On Ilss And Flexural Strength Of Fiber Epoxy Composites. IJAIR ISSN: 2278-7844, 327-332.
  • Yu A, Ramesh P, Sun X, Bekyarova E, Itkis ME, Haddon, RC. 2008. Enhanced thermal conductivity in a hybrid graphite nanoplatelet – carbon nanotube filler for epoxy composites. Adv Mater 20, 4740–4744.