Comparative studies on the processing and performance of carbon nanotube and nanofibre based multi-scale composites

S Rana, A Bhattacharyya, Shama Parveen, Raúl Fangueiro, R Alagirusamy, Mangala Joshi

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    Abstract

    The present research compares the processing and various properties of carbon/epoxy multi-scale composites developed incorporating vapor-grown carbon nanofibres (VCNFs) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). CNFs and SWCNTs (0.5-1.5 wt. %) were dispersed within epoxy resin using a combination of ultrasonication and mechanical stirring in the presence of a non-ionic surfactant and the nanomaterial/resin dispersions were used to impregnate carbon fabrics in order to develop multi-scale composites. It was observed from the experimental results that SWCNTs needed much longer dispersion treatment as compared to CNFs; however, the improvement in properties in case of CNT based multi-scale composites was also much higher. Incorporation of up to 1.5 wt.% of CNT within carbon/epoxy composites led to improvements of 46% in elastic modulus, 9% in tensile strength, 150% in breaking strain, 170% in toughness, 95% in storage modulus (at 25°C), 167% in thermal conductivity and also significant improvements in the wear performance of composites. Additionally, the modeling approach showed that the multi-scale composites, especially containing SWCNTs, presented elastic modulus very close to the predicted values.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationECCM16–16th European Conference on Composite Materials
    PublisherEuropean Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM
    Number of pages8
    ISBN (Print)8461697987
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

    Publication series

    NameECCM16–16th European Conference on Composite Materials

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Comparative studies on the processing and performance of carbon nanotube and nanofibre based multi-scale composites'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this