Carbon fiber/epoxy resin/α-aluminum oxide nanocomposites; fabrication, mechanical and thermal analysis

Abstract

A composite is a material having two or more components with diverse chemical or physical properties. Due to the special feature of the composites, the use of various materials and research in their field is developing. By considering the above points, in this work a series of the nanocomposites from α-Al2O3 nanoparticles (α-Al2O3 NPs, at 2, 5, and 10% by wt), carbon fibers (CF), and epoxy resin were fabricated and their thermal and mechanical performance were evaluated. The dispersion mode of α-Al2O3 NPs in the composite structure was evaluated through a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The FE-SEM analysis revealed that the α-Al2O3 NPs and CF were homogeneously dispersed in the epoxy matrix and the morphology of α-Al2O3 NPs–CF/epoxy composites is uniform. The results of the mechanical tests exhibited that the flexural strength and module of E-40 (epoxy resin: carbon fiber: α-Al2O3, 65:25:10) were at their highest levels; 295 MPa and 11,917 MPa, respectively. For flexural strength and module, improvements were made by 95.5% and 91.8% in comparison with the samples in the absence of NPs. The highest tensile strength was obtained for E-30 (epoxy resin: carbon fiber: α-Al2O3, 70:25:5); 341 MPa. There is a 24% enhancement in tensile strength as compression by a sample without NPs. Accordingly, we can conclude that the addition of α-Al2O3 NPs in composite structures has significantly affected the mechanical response. However, the thermal analysis was illustrated as an inverse trend by the addition of NPs. Therefore, the performance of experimental tests revealed that the composite with the required feature could be prepared based on the obtained results.